Saturday, February 24, 2007
IT firm strengthens aid to improve education
AN international computer processor and solutions developer intends to intensify its programs to help integrate information and communication technology (ICT) in the Philippine educational system.
“Education is a serious commitment of Intel,” said Yvonne Garcia Flores, Intel Technology Philippines Inc. education manager.
She said the company believes that education is critical to encourage creativity and innovation.
“We are a technology-based company and we live by innovation. Through our education program, we are growing the science research culture among the kids today,” Flores told a press conference at Krua Thai restaurant at SM City Cebu last Thursday.
Budget
She said Intel Corp. has allotted some $100 million for its educational program worldwide.
Education is also a major component in Intel’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) program. In its CSR 2006 year-end report, Intel Philippines highlighted three banner programs, namely: the Intel Philippines Science and Engineering Fair (Intel Ipef), Intel Higher Education Program (Intel HEP), and the Intel Teach Program (Intel TP).
Intel Ipef is a nationwide competition on research and development involving students.
Flores said the company will select top six entries that will compete in the Intel international science and engineering fair in May, which is expected to involve 1,300 entries from 40 countries worldwide.
Flores said the entries of Filipino students have continuously gained recognition abroad and have reaped several awards.
The Intel HEP aims to improve the university curriculum, and research and development.
Flores said the education sector’s biggest challenge is in building “world-class professors.”
Focus
“The issue has always been: Are the universities preparing the students for the industry?” she said.
Jay Tulao, Intel Philippines higher education program manager, said Intel HEP focuses on four areas: electronics and communication engineering; material science; failure analysis; and higher volume manufacturing.
Tulao said the IT industry is showing a huge demand for semi-conductors specializing in microelectronics and test engineering.
Under the Intel HEP program, the company has sponsored the first-ever Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) design.
FPGA design is a chip-design contest where Marvin Cubelo, Jon Vinson Chua and Jammerson Palanca — all from the University of San Carlos — won the grand prize for the entry called, “FPGA-based digital voice recorder implementing adaptive differential pulse code modulation through very high speed integrated circuit hardware description language.”
In addition, Flores said the company welcomes any research proposals and is set to provide grants ranging from P100,000 to P1 million, depending on the nature of the grant.
Teachers
Meanwhile, Intel TP intends to teach educators how to effectively use personal computers in the classroom.
“It improves the way teachers — in science, math, English and history — use technology as an effective tool to promote critical thinking, creativity and collaboration among the students,” Flores said.
She said the program has trained over 74,000 teachers in the country and over four million worldwide.
Earlier, Education Secretary Jesli Lapus urged the business sector to invest in human resource and help develop the country’s educational system.
“Investing in human resources has the highest return of investments among all investments. Business and social progress are both inter-dependent,” said Lapus, the keynote speaker during the annual membership meeting of the Philippine Business for Social Progress at the Casino Español last Wednesday. (MMM)
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