‘Partners in Learning’ benefits teachers

Rhenalyn Gacusan, a Math teacher of two years at Systems Plus College Foundation in Angeles City, has just discovered how MS Excel could make her life so much easier.

After attending the training in Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS), Gacusan learned how to use MS Excel in computing the grades of her students, giving her more time to plan her lessons.

And for this, she is really grateful. "The course on Microsoft Office Specialist will significantly improve my teaching skills," she beams.

Moreover, Gacusan can now share this discovery with other teachers. She was one of the many college teachers who helped train more than 1,000 public school teachers nationwide in Microsoft Office.

The five-day training sessions were part of the "No Teacher Left Behind" project under the Microsoft Partners in Learning Program (PIL). They were conducted by the faculty of private and state universities and colleges.

The Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), lead implementing partner for the Partners in Learning program, matched each university or college with public schools that have computer laboratories near the institution.

Each partner university or college has committed to train 40 teachers from its adopted school using its own computer laboratories as training venue.

PBSP deputy executive director Ramon Derige says, "PBSP recognizes that working with the Department of Education and corporations like Microsoft to improve information and communications technology (ICT) in public high schools is important because it can give young Filipinos the opportunity to get jobs and have a better future."

At the end of the course, the high school teachers are expected to have acquired knowledge of and skills in basic ICT, desktop productivity, and software development. They should be able to integrate ICT into their lessons and use it in performing their non-teaching tasks as well.

"Each academic year poses a greater challenge for teachers who need to cope with the demands of students who live in a technology-driven society. The trainings are here to ensure that our public high schools are not left behind, and that they will provide the necessary ICT skills to majority of the Filipino youth," says Sam Jacoba, academic affairs director of Microsoft Philippines.

In Metro Manila, teacher trainings were conducted in the campuses of STI College, De La Salle University-Manila, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Mapua Institute of Technology, Mapua Information Technology Center, Phoenix One and San Beda College. AMA Computer College also held trainings in select provinces.