MANILA, Philippines --- As of February this year, a total of 710 residents of Navotas City have graduated from the free computer skills training program of the local government which makes use of mobile classrooms that visit all 14 barangays of the city.

The second batch of the “Computer Outreach Learning” (COOL) program recently visited Barangays Tanza, North Bay Boulevard North and South, Tangos, Bangkulasi and San Roque to teach 310 residents basic computer operation and use of Microsoft Office applications.

Since the program opened November 12 last year, 710 residents have finished the five-day course and received a certificate of completion accredited by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). The first batch of beneficiaries consisted of around 400 individuals.

Among the beneficiaries were 70-year-old Erlinda Naadat, who is still considered the oldest person to have graduated from the program. She said that aside from being able to use a computer and operate Office applications, she also learned how to use it to communicate with her relatives.