By: Michael A. Pinto, RL
The Cagayan Provincial Learning and Resource Center (CPLRC) was launched in July 13, 2017 in partnership with the Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT). Prior to its launching, the CPLRC has been conducting Digital Literacy Programs intended for the employees of the Provincial Government to capacitate those who have little or no knowledge on how to operate a computer for their office works. This is part of the vision of the CPLRC to become a training center to cater to the needs of the community. The center became the source of online information by researchers through its connectivity to the internet. The center has become a platform by which students can send their assignments and other online tasks to their teachers. Further, the center has become a venue for online meetings and communication using the available social media platforms with certain rules to ensure quality research time for the clients. With the different online databases integrated to the Tech4Ed platform, clients were able to learn new things that helped them learn independently. Furthermore, the center became the issuing section for the CPLRC Access Card which became a requirement for every client using any facilities of the CPLRC.
In 2019, the DICT inked a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Provincial Government of Cagayan through the CPLRC with the Tech4Ed Package to be used in the center. To provide better services to the clients, the Tech4Ed Center in partnership with DICT started to offer Digital Literacy to different groups.
Persons with Disability were given a chance to learn the basics of computer to equipped them with the right skills for their everyday life. Through this, most of these PWD’s were able to use the learnings they’ve got from the training in their own respective works. The E-government services were also introduced to the public to allow them to access the online services of the government such as NBI, SSS, PRC, DFA and the like for free with the assistance of the staff. Other services were also offered by the CPLRC Tech4Ed Center to continuously serve the people of Cagayan. Aside from the Digital Literacy Programs, the center also conducted trainings on Digital JobsPh and Social Media Marketing Training for PWDs.
At the height of the pandemic, despite the physical closure of the CPLRC, the center continued to reach out to more clients online. This time, the center was used for online orientation of E-resources subscribed by the CPLRC to schools in the province. Further, the CPLRC also launched the Library Virtual Reference Assistance (L-ViRA) which is an online reference assistance for library clients. This time, the L-ViRA was able to reach out more clients in the whole province using the online platform. The center was also used to facilitate the management of the Balik Cagayan Program of the Provincial Government through Mr. Michael Pinto, the Center Manager. This program assisted the Locally Stranded Individuals (LSIs) to comeback to Cagayan using the online application system established by the Balik Cagayan Program Technical Team headed by Mr. Pinto.
Furthermore, the center became a venue for online Free Civil Service Review since the pandemic up to now. With this service, the center was able to help those who are aspiring to enter the government service as they pass the Civil Service Examination. In fact, the passing percentage for the last 2 years of the online review class was way above the National Passing Percentage.
With all of these activities and programs, the center has become a portal for clients to reach the CPLRC and its resources. It has proven its worth through the many success stories from those who have availed of the services of the center. With a more conducive setup equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, it is hoped that the center will continue to provide more services that are responsive to the needs of the community.