OICT launches digital literacy campaign for women

MANILA, Philippines - To train 10,000 women nationwide — this is the target which the Office of Information and Communications Technology (OICT) under the Department of Science and Technology hopes to achieve a year from now after the launch of a special training course organized by its partners — the UP-Open University and the Philippine Community eCenter Network (PhilCeCNet) Program Management Office.

Dubbed as the Philippines Digital Literacy for Women Campaign, this is the country’s response to the global program “Telecenter Women: Digital Literacy Campaign” by the telecentre.org Foundation which is being participated in by over 40 nations with the help of 25,000 out of 100,000 existing telecenters.

As early as last March 2, in line with this mission and coinciding with the celebration of Women’s Month, the National Computer Center Field Operations Office (NCC-FOO), in partnership with the Rural Improvement Club of the Office of the City Agriculturist, conducted the first basic literacy course for women.

“This is a good project. More women need the ICT know-how to enable them to meaningfully use technology to improve their lives,” said Teresita Rowe, president of the Rural Improvement Club. 

Rowe said most women in the rural areas leave the computer and Internet stuff to their husband and children, and do not bother to learn how to browse the Internet, send e-mails or post on social networking sites. 

“Perhaps it is because of the old-fashioned way of thinking that women are relegated to house work and taking care of the children only, said Rowe. “However, women today are so adept at multi-tasking because they assume so many roles. They can juggle motherhood and careers quite well in this age and time, and must therefore be prepared to be as ICT-literate as their children and husbands.”

The Digital Literacy Campaign for Women has been rolled out as an ongoing crusade to train and equip women from poor and marginalized communities with basic ICT skills and proficiencies, which will allow them to reach their highest potential as women in the digital information age. 

To date, over 500 women have already benefited from the program through free trainings.

Meanwhile, Community eCenters are also putting out a call of support for their campaign to promote “digital empowerment and literacy for every Filipino.”

By “liking” the Philippine Digital Literacy Campaign Facebook page, show support for this effort and be provided with constant updates.