Cebu City allots P.9 million for IT skills training program

CEBU, Philippines – The Cebu City government is allocating P900 thousand for the development of Information Technology and Communication (ICT) skills through the Cebu City ICT/Call Center Training Program.

The Cebu City government chairman for Department of Public Services councilor Edu Rama said in an interview that the program, which was started by former Mayor Tomas Osmeña, will be strengthened through another training partnership with Lexmark and Global technology company NCR (National Cash Register) Corporation.

Rama said that in close coordination with the Technical Educational Skills and Development Authority (TESDA), the training program which will be conducted by ICT experts and programmers from NCR and Lexmark will hope to benefit at least 30-35 trainees.

“We have to complement the increasing demand for highly skilled ICT manpower demand. The supply of manpower in this field is not enough. There has to be a pro-active coordination between government, private sector, as well as the academe,” said Rama.

This private sector partnership in providing free skills training to Cebuano residents followed after the successful joint training program with the Aegis People Support to provide free-training for Cebu City residents which supposedly cost P3,500 for a five-week skills development training at People Support’s training arm called Aspire People Solutions Inc.

Rama said over 200 Cebu City residents have already availed of the free call center training with Aspire People Solutions Inc. This particular skills training normally costs P3,500. He added that of the 200 recipients of the program, 80 percent got employed right after the training.

The councilor said that based on their partnership deal, the City government is not obliged to pay the P3,500 fee to Aspire People Solutions Inc., if a trainee fails to get employed after the training.