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Teachers Forum
November, 2000

Getting Started with Computers
in Antique, the Philippines

An Interview with
Jazmin Josue
Jazmin Josue

Mrs. Jazmin Josue works in a school with 99 students in a remote area of the provincial island of Antique, in the Philippines. In the past year, as a part of the UNICEF support to the Child Friendly Schools systems, Mrs. Josue’s school has received a computer, a printer, and a number of CD-ROMs, with Internet downloading from a school in a neighbouring village.




Question: What happened when your school first started using the computer?

 students in Igcadac

Answer: When we first started, I called up my son who is a computer engineer in Iloilo City (96km away) and he came and put the computer together. Every time we had a problem with the computer I telephoned my son. After the set up, my son taught me how to open up the computer. After we received training, we teachers practiced hard to know how to use it.


Q: How did you involve the children?

A: We made a schedule for each class, according to the curriculum to let the children work with CD-ROMs on Saturdays. All the children had a chance to use the computer.


Q: What use do you make of the computer now?

These are the ways we use the computer:

parents and community
  • recording the nutrition status of children, using Excel
  • making forms for EMIS (Education Management Information Systems)
  • making student task cards for all subjects
  • writing test papers
  • all children have a file on the hard disk where they write stories and reactions to books read
  • Igcadac is linked to a school 34km away that has Internet access. (In Igcadac we don’t even have a telephone line!). The teachers there print off interesting articles which we can use for our teaching
  • Some Internet sites we have used include Teachers Talking About Learning and PIN (Parents Information Network).


Q: What use will you make of the computer in the future?

A: In the future we would like to see not only that all students are able to operate the computer, but community leaders as well. The barangay (village) captain will get computer training on Saturdays. We would like more computers, Internet access when we get a telephone line, more educational CD-ROMs for students and parents, and more software for very young children. We are getting more confident in how we use the computer to help with learning.


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