VIRAC, Catanduanes, Feb. 17-- Intel Philippines, through the Adopt-A-School program of the Department of Education (DepEd), has donated 20 units of Classmate notebook computers to Virac Pilot Elementary School (VPES) here, the biggest public elementary school in the province.
Classmate is a portable, internet-ready and user-friendly information technology (IT) notebook for children; it comes with Microsoft Office, a seven-inch screen and two-gigabyte flash memory.
Adopt-A-School, according to its program coordinator Mari Paul Soriano, is pursuant to Republic Act 8525 that seeks to generate resources by tapping private entities that are willing to assist public schools, whether elementary or secondary preferably located in any of the country's 20 poorest provinces.
Under the program guidelines, a memorandum of agreement specifying the details of the adoption shall be entered into between the adopting entity and the head of the school, he added.
It is based on the principle of volunteerism and participation for education aimed at creating multiple partnerships with different business sector, NGOs, foundations, individuals and other private entities here and abroad.
The program is also in order to generate investments outside the funding mainstream and national budget by providing assistance on a short term or long term basis in the upgrading and modernization of public elementary and high schools, Soriano said.
This allows the private sector to adopt a public school of their choice anywhere in the country and provide necessary resources for the infrastructure, facilities support, teaching and skill development, monitoring and evaluation, learning support, equipments for computer and science laboratory as well as food and nutrition, he said.
In recognition of their goodwill, these private firms can avail of tax incentives of up to 150 percent, Soriano said.
Since it was launched in 1998, Adopt-A-School had already drawn more than 200 adopting private entities supporting basic education in 6,000 public schools nationwide through the program, generating P6 billion worth of support from the private sector.
In 2007 alone, it generated some P4.5 billion worth of intervention, donations and pledges representing more than a 900-percent in increase of supports.
Private sector assistance ranges from technology support to supplementary learning materials, from literacy programs to physical infrastructure and facilities to feeding programs. Companies and individuals may also extend direct assistance to public schoolchildren in the form of school supplies, Soriano added.
Adopt-A-School program finance officer Zeny Lastimoza said the Intel Phils. donations to the VPES is valued at P300,000 at P15,000 per unit and part of the 820 laptop computers committed to the program by the IT firm over a two-year period ending this year as part of the agreement with DepEd in pursuing the Gearing-up for Internet Literacy and Access for Students (GILAS) project.
GILAS is a government-private sector partnership towards advancing the quality of education in public schools by improving school children and teachers' training in IT communication, Lastimoza said. (PNA)