ShareThisMore than two hundred guests gathered at the Grand Ballroom of the Intercontinental Hotel in Makati City to celebrate another important milestone in the history of GILAS: The connection of more than 3,000 schools to the Internet. Five years since the launch of GILAS in 2005, more than 3,000 schools, or roughly 44 percent of all public high schools in the country, are now connected to the World Wide Web, with 51 provinces and cities declared as 100 percent connected.
Gearing Up Internet Literacy and Access for Students (GILAS), is a multisectoral project that aims to bring Internet connectivity to all of the country’s 6,784 public high schools, to enhance the youth’s learning experience and to give them access to a world of information and knowledge. It mobilizes support and resources from the government, private sector, and overseas Filipinos for the cause.
GILAS also provides training for teachers from Internet-connected schools. The training helps them maximize the use of the World Wide Web as a resource for students, and provides them the information needed to properly care for the computers. To date, more than 12,500 teachers have been given training in information and communication technology.
Leading the guests of honor is Hon. Bro. Armin Luistro, Secretary of the Department of Education. “The GILAS project allows us to address our many problems in education in a new and innovative way,” he says to the crowd. “If we can connect all our schools to the Internet, we will have some good news, and with that good news, we will have the energy and the resources to move forward and address the other shortages in our education system. Indeed, your presence here is not only a renewal of commitment to the project but a symbol of hope that our country is ready for change.”
A celebration of unlikely partnerships
More than the connection of 3,000 schools to the Internet, the event also celebrates the partnerships formed through the GILAS project. Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, GILAS Consortium Co-Chairman says that the GILAS project is unique as it brings together a diverse set of groups towards achieving a shared goal – that of bringing Internet to public high schools in the Philippines.” “It is a private-sector led initiative that has been brought to fruition by the local government and the Department of Education. It is a project that has allowed different groups to transcend self-interests for education.”
Dr. Susan Estigoy, Regional Director of the Department of Educatin in Region 11, echoes this statement. “The GILAS project is a love story of reaching out between and among local governments, DepEd and the private sector. It is our hope that our love story in Region 11 will be a love story for the whole country.”
Support from Filipinos overseas Donations from overseas Filipinos for the GILAS project have reached P62.340 million, fuelling the project and allowing more schools to be connected to the Internet. This initiative has also given our kababayans from across the globe an opportunity to reconnect to their homeland. In New York, a PhilDev team headed by Marilyn Abalos and Ronna Reyes Sieh, recently held a benefit show for the project, raising enough funds to connect an additional 50 students to the information superhighway. See story here. From the East Coast to the West, more and more Filipinos are being given the chance to give back to the country.
Indeed, from a small idea, the GILAS project has now blossomed into a full-fledged initiative, benefitting not just the students, but the larger community of concerned Filipinos, whatever organization they may represent and wherever they may be in the world.