This is a repost of a press release about a laudable project called e.Studyante Program that  I came across on Notepad Corner, a blog being authored and maintained by a former i-café owner. We feel that the news is worthy of dissemination to all especially to the stakeholders in the i-café industry in our country.

School children in the Philippines face many challenges; sometimes, even the simple walk to school in the morning can be an arduous journey. Students cross rivers, traverse mountain peaks, even go through battlegrounds just to go to school. And when they arrive, they are faced with meager resources – overcrowded classrooms, the lack of books and school supplies – which all make for an uninspiring learning environment.

That is why starting on its 76th year, Procter and Gamble (P&G) Philippines is setting out to make these students’ journey more worthwhile. Taking its commitment to education to the next level, P&G will provide technology and connectivity to Filipino students nationwide with its e.Studyante program.

Along with partner Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) and Synergeia Foundation, the e.Studyante program will provide kids from selected schools with an XO Laptop from the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) Association. The XO laptop is a rugged, low-power, connected laptop especially designed to make learning more engaging and more fun for students. Students can use their laptops not just to learn but to share and connect with each other, with their communities and with the world – helping them all become an “e.Studyante.”

“For children all over the country, the challenge of education begins even before they step into the classroom. Some have to wake up at the crack of dawn and walk miles through unpaved roads, through woods and rivers, just to get to school. We are doing this for these students. We want to make this journey worthwhile for them by giving them the tool that will place the world’s knowledge at their fingertips – through a laptop and internet connectivity,” said Chad Sotelo, e.Studyante Country Marketing Manager.

The goal is simple: Give out 1,000,000 laptops in time for P&G’s 100th year. And you can help. “But it’s not something we can do alone,” Sotelo added. “To help us reach our goal of 1,000,000 students, we would like to invite moms all over the country to support the e.Studyante program by buying P&G promo packs.”

Through the “e.Studyante” program, you can help give a child a laptop by buying specially marked P&G promo packs available nationwide. You not only save up to 40% on your favorite P&G products but you also help provide a child with a world of educational materials and fun activities that will inspire them to learn and achieve even more.

Participating brands include Safeguard, Tide, Pampers, Downy, Ariel, Pantene, Head & Shoulders, Joy, Rejoice, Whisper, Olay, Gillette, Vicks and Ambi-Pur.

Helping those in need has never been easier. You can help make each child’s journey to school more worthwhile. Support the e.Studyante program and help gift each student with a brighter future! Isang laptop, mas malawak na kaalaman, mas magandang bukas.

The End Child Prostitution, Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes (ECPAT Philippines) successfully rounded up support of various national agencies and other civil society groups in the Philippines to commemorate December 12, 2011 as International Day Against Human Trafficking by helping in the nationwide dissemination of information on the problem of child sex trafficking and how to report the incidence of the crime.

December 12 completes the 18-Day Campaign to End Violence against Women and Children (November 25-December 12) as observed worldwide every year. The Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT), chaired by the Department of justice (DOJ) has chosen this year’s theme as “Laban Kontra Human Trafficking, Laban Nating Lahat”. The Philippines Against Child Trafficking (PACT)  groups that includes ECPAT as NCR lead convenor carry this year’s theme as ‘Komunidad Palakasin, Child Trafficking Sugpuin’.

From December 5 to 12, through the efforts of ECPAT in collaboration with the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB), metro cinemas will show Animated Faces, a 37-second video infomercial about child sex trafficking.

Animated Faces is a short video about the true stories of three (3) girls who survived sex trafficking. It was produced by ECPAT with support from the Inter-agency Council against Trafficking (IACAT). There is also a one-minute radio infomercial by the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) to be aired in at least sixty-eight (68) PIA provincial radio networks  while provincial cable TVs will also show the Animated Faces video.

The video and radio infomercials are aimed to foster awareness of this ugly reality in our midst. Internal trafficking of children remains a huge problem in the Philippines. A study published in 2009 has found that domestic child trafficking in the country presents more challenges than cross-border trafficking. Internally, women and children are trafficked from poor communities and rural areas to urban areas such as Metro-Manila, Angeles City and Cebu City.

The Philippines Against Child Trafficking (PACT), composed of over forty (40) organizations nationwide, also states that there is an increasing number of child victims coming from urban areas like Quezon City who are trafficked to the rural areas in Luzon. This indicates an increasing threats for children not just in rural areas but in highly urbanized cities as well.

When confronted with human trafficking problems, everyone is encouraged to report to authorities by calling Action Line at 1343 in Metro Manila and 02-1343 for those in the provinces.

The iSchools Project was a computerization initiative of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) which is set to wrap up this year. DOST said that its roll-outs of the iSchools Project in different parts of the country have revealed a “confusing” software policy among schools, especially “with what appears to be Department of Education (DepEd)’s continuing promotion of paid productivity software.” DOST also revealed it has opened discussions with DepEd to urge the agency to use FOSS (free and open source software).

The Project manager of iSchools, Antonette Torres said, “DepEd’s involvement with Microsoft is neither conducive to creating an environment favorable to ICT skills development for students, nor justifiable when no-cost software alternatives are already being offered.” As a computerization program, the iSchools Project have given computer laboratories with open-source operating systems (Ubuntu 10.04 and EdUbuntu). It has also conducted training workshops, which included Computer and Internet Literacy Course, CampBlog content development program, PC Recycling, Library Management, among others.

According to a case study posted in Microsoft’s official website, DepEd opted to use its software products since it is 33-percent more expensive to train teachers in open-source software. This could be true, iSchools said, considering the number of years that Microsoft has invested in the local education sector. But, the project team said this has resulted in the Philippines having “Microsoft dependent instructors that need Microsoft programs to fully utilize their skills”. The iSchools Project proponents said the country’s student population and faculty should never become dependent on a single technology and vendor such as Microsoft.

The group said its “closeout” workshops have revealed that DepEd’s “Microsoft dependency” has also given the agency no choice but to prescribe the use of specific proprietary software in its curriculum. “DepEd’s refusal to train its teachers on the use of FOSS stunts the opportunity to nurture the skills needed to adapt to a 21st century learning environment,” iSchools said.

“Our instructors and teachers become who they are through years of tedious learning. Stereotyping them as people incapable of learning new things is a complete paradox to their roles in society. Learning forms a huge part of their being, especially as frontliners of the department in-charge of our country’s education. DepEd should be more thoughtful in the long-term repercussions of their policies — most especially their current Microsoft involvement,” Torres added.

]]> http://www.icafepilipinas.org/index.php/2011/12/02/shifting-ischools-project-to-open-source/feed/ 0 http://www.icafepilipinas.org/index.php/2011/11/24/premium-wifi-service-for-pldt-subscribers/ http://www.icafepilipinas.org/index.php/2011/11/24/premium-wifi-service-for-pldt-subscribers/#comments Thu, 24 Nov 2011 03:21:59 +0000 Admin http://www.icafepilipinas.org/?p=2265 This is about a one-month old press release that I feel is important for the stakeholders in the i-café industry to know. It should also interest the landline and myDSL service subscribers of Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) Co. if they want to save some money for connectivity outside their homes and [...]]]>

This is about a one-month old press release that I feel is important for the stakeholders in the i-café industry to know. It should also interest the landline and myDSL service subscribers of Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) Co. if they want to save some money for connectivity outside their homes and offices.

The press release said that with the aim to keep subscribers in its fold, dominant carrier PLDT is setting up a network of WiFi zones in Metro Manila to provide its myDSL and landline service subscribers unlimited WiFi Internet connection when they are not in their homes or offices. PLDT WiFi Zones are being set up in restaurants, malls, gas stations, bars, salons, PC shops, hospitals, and PLDT business offices, among others, in Metro Manila and soon in key provincial cities.

PLDT said its partner establishments will get a boost of up to 100Mbps guaranteed premium and reliable connection for use of their customers. PLDT landline and myDSL subscribers can enjoy unlimited Internet access in these PLDT Wi-Fi Zones as an add-on service to their basic subscriptions. Free trials for the service is available for PLDT myDSL and landline subscribers until the end of this month.

Businesses that are already PLDT Wi-Fi zones include select branches of Yellow Cab Pizza, Burger King, Army Navy, Resorts World’s Republiq and Opus, Eastwood Mall, PC Express, Toyota Car dealers, Cardinal Santos Hospital, The Medical City, and PLDT Business Offices. Other businesses and commercial establishments are also in talks to become PLDT Wi-Fi Zones.

If you are a PLDT myDSL or landline subscriber with smartphone, tablet or netbook and you want to chat, tweet, post or browse webpages in a PLDT WIFI Zone, there’s no need to ask for Personal Identification Number (PIN) everytime you want to connect to Internet. All you need is to need to register online at PLDT WiFi Zone website for your unique Wi-Fi PIN.

The premium WiFi service is like an extension of PLDT subscribers’ Internet connection and the unlimited surfing will be charged at PhP150/month for myDSL subscribers and PhP300/month for PLDT landline subscribers on top of the monthly service fee.

Some one hundred (100) i-café owners from Metro-Manila and nearby provinces will gather later today to attend a symposium on new trends in information technology that affects PC performance for their business. Ubertech Inc., the event sponsor, will make presentations on new motherboard, video card and local area networking technology. Also known as PC Trends Inc., the company is the innovative leader in distributing top notch computer parts and accessories, network solutions, and consumer electronic products.

The symposium is organized by Unified Lanshop Owners of the Philippines (ULOP) and I-Café Pilipinas and will be held at Max’s Restaurant – Gateway Mall, Cubao, QC beginning at 2:00 PM to 5:30 PM today.Participants are asked to register online on “first come, first serve” basis due to limited seats available in the venue. Raffle prizes and surprise giveaways will also be given to lucky attendees.

The symposium, also tagged as UBertech-ULOP Eyeball, will be the first gathering of concerned i-café for more than a year. Aside from the knowledge to gain from the symposium, everyone who posted in the thread announcing the event at ULOP Forum is excited at the opportunity to meet fellow i-café owners especially those who will meet each other for the first time. As one of the organizers, I-Café wish for astounding success of the event.