Sunday, June 30, 2008 Cebu IT school participates in int’l exchange program
A COMPUTERr school in Cebu participated in an international exchange program for the advancement of its students as well as for the promotion of the Cebuano culture.
Julius Romarate, Interface Computer College-Cebu director for academics, said the program will provide the academe in the province the opportunity to gain international exposure.
He said this the first time for Interface to benefit from the international exchange program under the International Association of Exchange Students for Technical Experience (Iaste).
Lalaine Rotas, a representative from Iaste, explained that the student exchange program—which is participated in by 85 countries worldwide—is a reciprocal system in which host and center countries comply with the same terms.
“If the host country will send one student, we—as the center country—should also send one,” she said.
Rotas explained further that aside from schools and different universities, an exchange student can also be enrolled in an on-the-job training program in different member-companies under the Iaste organization.
Interface also presented in a press conference last Friday the exchange student it will be hosting under the program
Altansarnai Davadaagra is finishing up her msters degree program at the Mongolian University of Science and Technology. She is also a communications engineer back in her hometown.
Davadaagra is staying in Cebu for two months. She will be exposed to classroom training at Interface and will be given a chance to learn about the local culture.
Romarate said that as a side-program, Davadaagra will be given English tutorial classes by Interface professors.
With the reciprocal nature of the program, Interface will also be sending in September one of its junior college students who will be exposed to software development, particularly Java, in Mongolia. The Interface student, Archie Cimafranca, is currently working at Innodata.
Rotas said the Iaste program started in London in 1948. It has already benefited more than 300,000 students worldwide.
Not all participating schools and universities can provide full scholarship, however. Some schools though shoulder the accommodation and travel expenses of participating students.
“There are also allowances (to be given),” Rotas said.
In the case of Davadaagra, she handled the cost of her travel and accommodation while Interface will provide her an allowance that will cover for her food and other expenses.
Aside from relevant technical experience, Iaste also aims to be a source of cultural enrichment for student-participants. b>(DME)
