ICT Connection for Davao City Schools

The mission to promote information technology literacy among all Filipino public high school youth is coming to reality.

The city government of Davao led by its Acting Mayor Atty. Sara Z. Duterte recently partnered with GILAS (Gearing Up Internet Literacy and Access for Students) to connect all the city's public high schools to the Internet by 2009.

GILAS, a multisectoral consortium, has Globe as its Internet Service Provider (ISP) for all the public schools in Davao City. It shall provide free Internet connection for one year. The city government of Davao shall provide the pole-towered wireless Internet facility. This is to provide opportunities to harness the full potential of its constituents and by recognizing the youth's need to equip themselves with the necessary skills to make them competent users of the technology.

Acting Mayor Sara Duterte, Regional Director Susana Teresa B. Estigoy, Mr. Archimedes Velasco, Senior Manager of GILAS Mindanao, Mr. Jeffrey Tarayao, Head of Globe Community Relations, Acting Vice-Mayor Mabel Acosta, Dr. Luzminda Onor, Chief of Secondary Division, and Dr. Helen Paguican, Schools Division Superintendent of Davao City division spearheaded the launching and turnover of initial Information Computer Technology (ICT) equipment, January 22 at the Mayor's Conference Room.

Nine schools were the recipients of the ICT equipment: Leon Garcia National High School, T.V. Fernandez National High School (formerly Indangan National High School), Sto. Niño National High School, Los Amigos National High School, Lower Tamugan National High School, Catalunan Pequeño National High School, Tagakpan National High School, Sirib National High School, and Don Enrique Bustamante National High School.

Scholarship available for teacher by Japanese Govt

The AFS Intercultural Programs Philippines is now accepting applications for the Japan-East Asia Network of Exchange for Students and Youths (JENESYS) study tour in Japan this year to foster solidarity among Asian countries.
The program runs from December 8 to 21 and is open to private and public school students and teachers from the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and India.
JENESYS aims to create a commonly shared future vision for the region towards promoting mutual understanding through youth exchange among students and teachers in Asia.
According to Executive Director Joey Pelaez of the Center for Students and Co-curricular Affairs (CSCA), the Philippines has 60 slots for students and six slots for teachers.
“The students and teachers will enjoy and learn much through the study tours, attendance in Japanese schools and homestay,” Pelaez said.
To qualify, applicants should be enrolled in fourth year high school or its equivalent in the home country at the time of application; 15 to 18 years old upon arrival in Japan; capable of adjusting to family life abroad; have the ability to conduct daily conversation in English or Japanese; and have not joined any similar invitation program to Japan.
All expenses while in the host country, including the roundtrip airfare, shall be borne by Japan, while travel expenses to and from the city in the Philippines shall be charged against local funds, local school board funds or from solicitations from private organizations. Expenses for the issuance of passport shall be paid by the participant.
Applicants are required to pay an application fee of five hundred pesos to the AFS Returnees Foundation Philippines on or before October 19. For more details, please contact CSCA office at tel. nos: (02) 631-8495 or (02) 636-3603.

Filipino Kids Win In Asian Art Contest

Eight Filipino grade schoolers -- with one winning the Grand Prix -- won in the Mitsubishi Asian Children’s Enniki Festa on illustrated diary art contest held recently in Tokyo, Japan.
The contest theme, “Here is my Life,” depicted the daily activity of the young artists in five pages of drawings and written essays in Filipino.
Winners of the contest were Hana Richelle Tang Tan – grade 3, St. Jude Catholic School, Manila, Grand Prix Award; Maphete Dianne Lustre – grade 6, West Visayas State University Integrated School, Mitsubishi Public Affairs Committee Award; and Sharmayne Desiree Ng – grade 6, St. Jude Catholic School, Manila, National Federation of UNESCO Associations in Japan Award.
The following students got the Excellence Awards: Rodner Tumaca – grade 6, Dona Juana Elementary School, Quezon City; Jerrika Shi – Grade 3, St. Jude Catholic School, Manila; Seanne Daphne Ng – grade 5, St. Jude Catholic School, Manila; Charlene Kim Dizon – grade 5 OB Montessori Center, Angeles City; and Demi Morales – grade 5, University of Sto. Tomas, Manila.
From a total of 94,730 Enikki art entries submitted by 22 Asian countries, the executive committee in Japan selected one Grand Prix awardee, a Mitsubishi Public Affairs Committee awardee, a National Federation of UNESCO Associations in Japan (NFUAJ) awardee, and five Excellence awardees from each of the participating countries.
Participating countries are Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, People’s Republic of China, Chinese – Taipei, India, Indonesia, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Republic of Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Singapore, Thailand, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Timor-Leste, Vietnam and Japan.
The Grand Prix winner received a certificate of commemoration, a commemorative medal, and an invitation with one guardian to the Ayutthaya-World Heritage Tour in Thailand. The other awardees were given certificates and commemorative gifts.
The organizers of the contest are the Mitsubishi Public Affairs Committee, Asian Pacific Federation of UNESCO Clubs and Associations and the National Federation of UNESCO Associations in Japan in cooperation with the Bureau of Elementary Education and the UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines. (MPC)