Mission

ICOTP - ICT is a program of the Provincial Government of Leyte, Department of Education and Local Government Unit which provides free Sotfware Development training for poor but deserving high school students in Leyte, Philippines. Its primary aim is to bridge societal divides through opportunites for gainful income, self-employment and/or competitive employment.

Project Background & Objectives

The Province of Leyte, in its effort to bridge societal gaps through opportunities for gainful income and self-employment, initiated a pro-poor program called Income Creating Opportunities thru Technology Program (ICOT-P) in 2005. The focus beneficiaries of the program were graduating secondary students who cannot pursue college education.

One of the objectives of the program is to provide beneficiaries with technology and skills which are useful in pursuing modernization and diversity in agriculture, agri-business and entrepreneurship. The program is supported by the Provincial Agriculture Office, LGU, DepEd, Community and other stakeholders.

The last quarter of 2006 also marked the pilot testing and expansion of the program by including Information Technology (IT) ("Let's Go IT!") in 3 pilot high schools in the province. The specific objective of the expansion is to provide ICT training to secondary students to enable them to improve their personal education levels, increase their income-generating capacity and enhance their ability to contribute meaningfully to the economic development of their respective municipalities and of the region as a whole.

In order to attain the mentioned objective, one of the major tasks to be implemented under the project is the conduct of focused or tailor-made ICT trainings that will surely impart the required knowledge and mastery to become future IT skilled manpower in the region.