THE Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) released P485,000 to the Archdiocesan Youthlinks Training and Assessment Center Inc. for the implementation of the Kabataan ITO (Information Technology Opportunities)
project.
"We are promoting youth-inspired programs to alleviate hunger in our community," said Dole 7 Director Elias Cayanong during the launching of the Kabataan ITO at the Capitol Parish Gymnasium yesterday. He said the IT training will help beneficiaries land jobs in business process outsourcing (BPO) firms, call centers and design and animation companies.
Dole 7 has partnered with the 150 graduates of Youthlinks in giving free tutorials for out-of-school and out-of-work youth and workers of informal sectors such as street vendors.
Five tutees will be assigned per graduate. They will be given a minimum of 22 hours of training on computer hardware familiarization, computer operations, computer application processing and Internet operations. Officials said the Kabataan ITO is an "earning" and "learning" IT project, which aims to provide free IT mentoring sessions but pays each graduate or tutor an honorarium of P25 per hour.
Cayanong said the project will also provide free supervised Internet access on online government programs and services. Mario Marababol, Youthlinks corporate secretary, said the total cost allocated for the project is P669,000. The amount covers the P485,000 granted by the Dole 7 for brand new CPUs, digital cameras and honorarium for the tutors and P184,000 from Youthlinks, which will cover facility expenses.
The amount will also finance YES (Youth Entrepreneur Support), which is still to be launched.
"We want to equip the out-of-school youth with IT skills and trainings as a means of support when they seek jobs," said Msgr. Arturo Navales, director of Youthlinks.
"I am overwhelmed with the opportunity given to us by Dole. It is a way nga kami nga mga unemployed maka-share sa among mga nakat-unan sa uban," said
Rolinda Comahig, a graduate of Youthlinks computer programming and Auto CAD. Marababol said that although Dole's funding for the project is only until December, Youthlinks will continue the program through YES, which aims to
prepare Youthlinks graduates to harness and practice entrepreneurial skills utilizing IT as a tool.
"The income generated for this project will sponsor the IT literacy programs," he said.
The Kabataan ITO program hopes to produce at least 750 IT-literate graduates before the year ends. Read the original article here http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/youth-training-group-gets-p485t-it-program
