Public school teachers from Dumaguete are undergoing training in the business process outsourcing/Information & Communications Technology industry as the Department of Education here integrates this into the Technology & Livelihood Education (TLE) track for senior high school students.
DepEd Dumaguete Division Schools Supt. Dr. Gregorio Cyrus Elejorde told the media on Tuesday that the Contact Center Services under the TLE will be offered at the opening of this school year in August.
“This has long been overdue and we wanted to start this at the junior high school level but unfortunately the Covid-19 pandemic prevented this from happening,” Elejorde said.
The timing is also right because of the current state of BPOs and the ICT industry in Dumaguete and Negros Oriental with more jobs available, he said.
On Monday afternoon, DepEd-Dumaguete officials and Inspiro Relia Inc. Dumaguete inked a memorandum of agreement for the teachers’ training on industry standards to help equip students for employment in that field after graduation.
Suzanne Lu-Bascara, site director of Inspiro Relia Inc.-Dumaguete and president of the ICT Association of Dumaguete & Negros Oriental, said their company designed a training program for these teachers that are aligned with industry standards.
“The DepEd, through Dr. Elejorde approached us before the pandemic to try to get industry training for his Senior High Contact Center teachers. His goal is to make their senior high graduates employment-ready after graduation,” she said.
The teacher-participants were screened, just like how applicants to a BPO are screened, “to identify gaps where we can fill through training,” she added.
They were chosen from all of the city’s seven national high schools and will undergo 20 hours of training for 10 days, starting immediately after the signing of the agreement.
Bascara said Inspiro and the local BPO/ICT association will support DepEd teachers this school year so that by graduation next year, “we can offer employment to graduates who apply and qualify”. (Judy F. Partlow/PNA)
