The Information and Communication Technology Office (ICTO) of the Office of the Chief Minister (OCM), in partnership with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), conducted a two-day training seminar on Basic Computer Literacy to enhance selected OCM employees’ computer proficiency.
The activities took place at the TESDA Regional Manpower Development Center, Rebuken, Sultan Kudarat. The seminars were held within two consecutive days, catering to a different batch for each day. The first batch participated on August 13, and the second on August 14. The participants learned the basic functions of Microsoft applications, which included Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Participants of both seminars trained under Ma. Leah Rada Esturco, the TESDA instructor for the training, who formatted the course to fit the eight hour seminars compared of the usual 40 hours of training.
“The teaching method practiced during the training was also Instructor Esturco’s practiced house rules during established courses she taught weekly. The class was open to the individual needs of the class, slowing down at the request of the participants, and made the novices feel heard and understood on their needs as employees.” Seminar participant Hesham Aliudin said.
ICTO Information Systems Analyst Leanabai Sakal states the training was in line with the Bangsamoro Government’s initiatives to continually improve through empowering employees with knowledge. If given the chance, the next training could utilize more hours of at least three – five days, as one day was identified to lack the complete training hours needed to fully graduate from being a computer literacy novice.
The training was originally proposed by the ICTO as part of the office’s Gender and Development (GAD) Project for 2019. A self-assessment survey was conducted within the OCM last May to identify the qualified participants. The total 30 participants were identified as novices based on the scores from the survey and invited to attend the training.
