Private organizations provide tools to enhance students’ learning skills

THE private sector is a key component in providing support to produce graduates of the government’s K to 12 program. Since the government has limited resources, private companies have the expertise and capability to provide tools to students to further enhance their learning skills.

Creotec Philippines Inc., the training arm and member of the EMS Group of Companies, responded to the call from the academic sector to establish a skills-based training program for senior high-school students.

“We put the first Creotec center in the Laguna Techno Park in Biñan as a reaction to the request of numerous schools in the area to train their senior high-school students focusing on the science, technology, engineering and math [STEM] program,” said Thess Bermudez, director of Creotec Philippines Inc., in a recent interview with the BusinessMirror.

“As our parent company, EMS has

developed a solid track record in the electronics industry, our key personnel have earned a broad exposure and experience from both the academe and the electronics manufacturing sector,” Bermudez added.

With its expertise in different manufacturing processes, industry requirements and the latest technology trends, Bermudez said Creotec is capable of providing the tools and the skills to senior high-school students that will train them become competent and skilled professionals in their adult life. “Our solutions suite was developed in response to the road map of a typical school administrator for their high-school students.”

In line with the Department of Education’s Order 40, the Creotec iLearn provides for an 80-hour learning experience for the in-house training. Bermudez said an iLearn participant will be equipped with skills to prepare them for employment or entrepreneurship.

Meanwhile, the Creotec senior high-school immersion program is a two-week, world-class work simulation experience covering a gamut of topics aimed to introduce life and technical skills.

Bermudez said Creotec also crafted a program called Creotec Leaning Systems (CLS) for colleges, technology institutes and secondary schools to enable them to modernize and later, own their laboratory without the additional expenses while providing trainings for students. The package will also include an identified set of training equipment, training for faculty and teacher’s presentation materials.

Under the CLS, programs offered are enhancing skills from Kinder to Grade 3 with basic robotics; robotics learning package for Grades 4 to 6; robotics for junior high school; learning basic electricity and magnetism through practice; Physics 2 for Grade 12. Moreover, it offers courses for engineering students in college such as basic electricity, analog and digital communication, basic programmable logic controller, electronic sensors’ digital logic laboratory, microcontroller, basic electromagnetism and electricity and electronics 2.

In partnership with GOTT of Malaysia, Creotec’s Iequip program provides secondary, technical-vocational schools, tertiary schools and industry a wide range of training equipment in the Internet of Things (IoT), electricity, electronics, mechatronics, information technology, communications, automotive, consumer electronics, test and measurement, software and renewable energy.

Right now, Creotec has nine centers located in Dagupan, Manila, Biñan, Dasmariñas, Quezon City, Batangas City, Lipa City, Iloilo City and Lapu-Lapu City. It has partnered with 150 schools and trained almost 30,000 students starting last year.

For the work immersion program, a student needs to spend P3,000 for the two-week exposure program.

For next school year, the fees will be reduced because the company has already recovered the cost of initial investments in the facilities and because of competition.

“Our competitors have drastically reduced their prices, but we are quite different from what they are doing,” she said.

Bermudez said Creotec’s programs ensure quality training to the students as they are not integrated in the training sessions of regular employees.