President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has announced that government of Philippines has made a plan to unveil an 'ICT 4 Education' (ICTE) strategy to harness the power of the digital age to extend meaningful and relevant education to tomorrow's workforce. < ?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

In her remarks before the 2nd National ICTs in Basic Education Congress in Cebu City, the President said that the Philippine cyber corridor stretching from Baguio to Davao runs along a digital backbone that carries ICT services to every municipality and household. The country has earmarked over P21 billion to strengthen this backbone in the next three years. She said such investments and planning are essential because Information Communications Technology now provides jobs to millions of Filipinos. The computer had changed the way people look at the world, she pointed out. The President said her vision of putting at least one computer in every public high school with the help of the private sector had attained 80 percent of its target. The e-learning system for out-of-school youth will serve as a substitute for the formal classroom, leading to the equivalent of a high-school diploma. However, the President said the strengthening of ICT as a means to further education requires more ICT-competent teachers. Majority of public high-school teachers should fulfill the requirements of the National ICT Complacency Standard for Teachers, or NICS, by 2010.