THE Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) in Negros Occidental has produced 22 graduates of its Digital Jobs PH Technical Training Project in Kabankalan City.

Romeo Tome, provincial officer of DICT-Negros Occidental, said these graduates of digital marketing and e-commerce course form part of the 25 applicant-scholars, who started attending the 35-day training in September this year.

Tome said the scholars, who are graduating today, completed the 14-day face-to-face training with partner-micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and another 21 days of online session.

“During the online training session, the scholars are tasked to digitally promote the product and services of the partner-MSMEs,” he said, adding that they are also promoting themselves as OFW Version 2 or online freelance workers.

The DICT-Negros official further said that the graduates were also able to pass the “guidelines” set including the quality of their outputs through assessment and evaluation.

Rolled out in the country in 2017, the program mainly aims to provide technical trainings to unemployed and financially unstable residents in the province enabling them to land ICT-related jobs.

Aside from digital marketing and e-commerce, the project also offers six other courses such as general virtual assistance, content writing, search engine optimization and advertising, social media marketing and advertising, graphic design, and web development.

In Negros Occidental, 24 scholars in San Carlos City and another 22 in Cadiz City have availed the program in 2017 and 2018, respectively. They also finished digital marketing and e-commerce course.

Aside from Kabankalan City, DICT-Negros Occidental will also start implementing the project in Escalante City this year.

Tome said the training will start on October 21 covering 22 scholars, though there is also a proposal to implement the project in Talisay this year.

In Kabankalan, the DICT partnered with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) which identified the partner-MSMEs and local government unit (LGU) for the identification of the scholars.

Under the program, the recipients should be 18 years old and above, at least high school graduates, and computer literate.

The main purpose really is job generation, Tome said, adding that after the graduation, scholars can be absorbed by MSMEs to continue to promote their products and services online as well as develop and manage their websites.

Also, the agency can provide seven laptops or personal computers to the LGU for the establishment of its Digital Jobs PH Hub that will cater to the graduates and other residents looking for jobs online.

In cities of San Carlos and Cadiz, the agency donated a total of 15 computers while those for Kabankalan City will still depend on the availability of fund.

“In Negros Occidental, most of our graduates have already obtained employment and helped MSMEs boost their enterprises,” he added.*