MANILA, Philippines -- SAN JOSE, Antique (PNA) – At least 55 public secondary schools in the Division of Antique now have Internet connections with the full implementation of the Gearing up Internet Literacy and Access for Students (GILAS) project in the province recently.

GILAS, a multi-sectoral initiative that aims to provide Internet access to students in all public high schools in the Philippines, was started in June 2010 with the Internet connection of 11 national high schools in the Division of Antique.

The project is implemented by a consortium of private corporations and civic organizations, in partnership with the Department of Education (DepEd), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and the Ayala Foundation, Inc.

The GILAS in the Division of Antique was also made possible through the leadership and funding assistance from Antique Gov. Exequiel B. Javier and Rep. Paolo S. Javier.

Mario Derequito, senior director of the Ayala Foundation, Inc., said Antique is the first province in Western Visayas to have full implementation of the GILAS project and the second Division after Iloilo City, which has 16 public high schools only.

Derquito, accompanied by Schools Division Superintendent Dr. Myrna Castillo and Assistant Schools Division Superintendent Victor De Gracia, unveiled the marker with the school principals and district supervisors from all over the province witnessing the affair.

“This marks another milestone of the many accomplishments of DepEd Division of Antique,” Castillo said, adding that with Internet connection, Antique students will now have better access to information.

Castillo said DepEd Order No. 50 provides each school in the country funds in its MOOE to pay for the Internet connection.

Meanwhile, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) here vowed to offer training in gemstone processing in line with its move to develop entrepreneurs.

TESDA is not only training Filipinos for work abroad, but it is also training people in the community to become entrepreneurs, said TESDA Regional Director Florencio Sunico Jr.

Sunico was in Antique recently for the presentation and consultation of the National Technical Education and Skills Development Program (NTESDP) and for the validation of the Provincial Technical Education and Skills Development Program in the province.

Sunico said that aside from the priority skills training that TESDA is offering in the province these past years specifically in Agri-Fishery sector, ICT and electronics sector, tourism, automotive, and land transport, metals engineering, construction, and furniture, among others, TESDA also offers community-based training program by integrating entrepreneurship development in its training.

“Our focus is to shift to entrepreneurship by creating products out of the indigenous raw materials in the locality for sustainable livelihood and development. In the province of Antique we will include gemstone processing because there is an abundant supply of gemstones in the province,” Sunico said.

Sunico said the TESDA in Western Visayas has an allocation of P22 million for training that will benefit at least 3,000 scholars.

The consultation and validation meeting was attended by officials of the local government units, representatives of TESDA partner organizations, the different government and non-government organizations, technical schools, the academe and the business community.