ICT training participants with Instructional Manager Dennis Valle (fourth from left) and Tanauan CeC Manager Eugene Ramos (rightmost) outside Sislink Internet Cafe

On February 4, 2010, the Local Government Unit (LGU) of Tanauan, Leyte, which hosts a Community eCenter under the National Computer Center’s (NCC) eLGU Project, successfully converted SisLink Internet Café into a CeC, making it the first ever iCafe to be converted.

The partnership with SisLink, a business enterprise operating in Barangay Buntay, was forged in cognizance of the urgent need to broaden access to ICT in the locality and the increasing number of barangay officials and local professionals who have expressed interest in undergoing ICT training.

Since the CeC is only equipped with twenty-three computer units, the planned Computer Literacy Program could not readily be accommodated considering that the CeC also serves as an accredited eSkwela Learning Center catering to alternative education for out-of-school youth and adults (OSYAs) currently with 150 learners. This gave birth to the partnership with and conversion of SisLink.

Under this particular undertaking, SisLink shall serve as a Community eLearning Center (CLC) to cater to the training needs of barangay leaders, professionals, teachers, and OSYAs among others to enhance their experience in ICT through the use of interactive multimedia learning materials.

Both the LGU and NCC are very positive about this recent development as it enables them to provide residents with quality ICT-based training program through the iCafé medium. 

The Computer Literacy Program was also opened to the public, with eight-hour modules that include Introduction to Computers, Office applications and hands-on exercises.

To date, six training batches have been conducted with fifteen participants per batch, composed mainly of barangay leaders and local residents endorsed by their respective barangays.

Under the partnership, SisLink provides the venue and facilities for the training and takes care of the network setup and hardware maintenance. It collects a fee of P1,100.00 per participant to cover laboratory usage, training handouts as well as honorarium for the lecturers. It also assists NCC and the LGU in the monitoring and evaluation of the CLC operations.

For its part, NCC, through its Regional IT Coordinator, oversees the implementation of the project and is responsible for scouting for potential iCafé partners in the area as well as identifying a focal person from the LGU to handle the recruitment of learners, monitor the implementation and operation of the CLC and recommend strategies for sustainability. 

A sustainability plan will soon be formulated by the LGU in coordination with NCC to help sustain the iCafé and convert more of these enterprises into local CLCs.  Proposals for the conduct of ladderized training on Internet basics, video conferencing, photo editing and website development will also be included in the plan.