THE Department of Science and Technology (DOST) revealed that more than 3,000 teachers are now ready to handle the election in the region.
DOST-Cordillera Director Julius Sicat said these teachers were duly certified by his agency to work as Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs) for the upcoming election.
The Commission on Election (Comelec) trained the teachers earlier on how to operate the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines. After the training, DOST officials conducted one–on–one examinations along with actual technical operation of the PCOS machines in order to evaluate the knowledge of the teachers.
Sicat revealed that out of 3,574 teachers in the region, 98 percent passed the written and actual examinations. He said that the result only shows that teachers in Cordillera are competent when it comes to handling new gadgets.
During the Election Day, Sicat said his personnel will be on standby, ready to help in any technical problem the Comelec will experience.
Comelec is expected to conduct the final testing and ceiling of the PCOS machines region wide on May 9. This activity aims to prevent any tampering to the PCOS machines wherein it will determine if the memory cards of these machines are really empty prior to the election.
Virginia Lupian, chief of the Department of Education Special Service, earlier said that the entire department is ready to manage the election, adding teachers are now equipped with the knowledge on how to run the PCOS machines.