The CITE education integrates technical training with human formation activities designed to improve the students’ attitude towards work and productivity, as well as towards his family, society and life itself.
A. SELECTION PROCESS
The Diploma in Engineering Technology accepts male Filipino graduates of senior high school whose age ranges from 17 to 25 years old upon enrolment. For short course applicants like Industry Skills Training Program, CITE requires male or female high school graduates to have an age of 18-25 years old. Aspirants must have grades of at least 80% in Math, Physics and English. The income of their family should not exceed Php 120,000 annually.
Yearly, CITE receives about 1,000 applications into the DIET and 600 into the short course program . All applicants undergo a screening process starting with written examinations and interviews, after which about three hundred of those who qualify are selected to undergo a weeklong Summer Technician Orientation Program (STOP) which serves as a foretaste of the three-year DIET.
Classes in Math, Physics, English, Physical Education, Technical Drafting and Mechanical Workshop. Home visits and parent’s interviews are also conducted in simultaneous with the STOP. After the STOP, the top students are accepted into the program.
B. PARTICIPANTS’ MOTIVATION
For the youth coming from the lower income group, being accepted into CITE’s DIET program is both a privilege and an opportunity. Compared to other vocational and technical training programs in the country, CITE’s DIET program is regarded by a good number of well-established companies as one of the best in terms of design, content, methodology, equipment, and facilities. The scholarship grants give them the opportunity to be participants of this program and assure them of employment with attractive economic benefit after graduation.
C. ACTIVITIES AND METHODOLOGY
The program is a combination of classroom lectures and laboratory and workshop practice.
Integrated into the course is the Dual Training System (DTS) in-plant training to give the trainees the opportunity their skills and knowledge on the job. This component also offers employers the chance to assess the trainees’ technical capabilities, attitudes toward work and adaptability to the company’s
environment before regular employment.
At the core of the program is the values education component. Aside from the weekly values and spiritual education sessions, a one-on-one regular tutorial session is also conducted. A tutor from the faculty or staff is assigned to each student who regularly follows through the progress of the student in his academic, professional, and spiritual development. The values education also extends to the members of the students’ families. Values education and spiritual activities are conducted once every two months for the students’ parents.
D. STUDENT PARTICIPATION
The ITP program participants organize themselves by class and by batch. These organizations initiate activities for the different classes. They take care of the upkeep and maintenance of the classrooms and the other facilities of the center.
They also organize sports activities, provide support and assistance to the staff in the various activities conducted for the students, parents, officers, donors and benefactors, and participating companies. They also participate in the evaluation of the different program’s activities to make it better, more responsive and more effective.
E. STAFF DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES
With the assistance of Associazione Centro ELIS, an Italian NGO, CITE was able to send seven of its staff to Italy to learn the “Italian way” of technical training. There have also been staff who had the occasion to do research work in Taiwan and India. Through the support of the Association of Overseas Technical Scholarships (AOTS-Japan), some faculty and staff were able to train in Japan, Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand among others.
Within the institution, there are regular values education sessions and spiritual activities for the staff. There is also the Cross-Training Program among the staff of the different departments and specializations which aims to help them learn from each other’s expertise and specializations.
The staff, especially the technical personnel, also avail of training, seminars and workshops related to their work conducted in the country.
F. MONITORING AND EVALUATION
Regular monitoring and evaluation mechanisms, such as examinations and demonstration, ensure that the students are exerting their best efforts and doing their best. Evaluation and monitoring is made even more personal and effective through the regular one-on-one chat between the students and the tutors assigned to them. The progress of each program participant is monitored; difficulties and problems are discussed and properly addressed.
During the Dual Training System in-plant training, the employers assess and give their own evaluation of the students’ technical capabilities, attitudes toward work, and personality development.
As for the effectiveness of the program itself, the indicators would be industry acceptance and actual job placement of the trainees after they graduate. So far, for both indicators, the program’s ratings are excellent judging from a number of partner companies who have participated in the program and graduates who have found employment.
G. FAMILY INVOLVEMENT
CITE believes that education starts at home. As it is said, however, one cannot give what one does not have. Being in the lower income bracket and with minimal education, the participants’ parents are only able to impart the little that they have to their children.
Cognizant of this reality, CITE sees to it that together with their sons, the parents also undergo an education program. They attend the various values-education activities designed for them at CITE once every two months. As the students earn their diplomas after three years in school, the parents earn their own diplomas as well.
When the participants are accepted into the program, their parents are made to understand that they are responsible for their children. In order to discourage the attitude of dependency, they are asked to give their own counterpart. Thus, through a symbolic offering, parents regularly give whatever they can afford. Some give monetary donations, others give in kind. Still, others offer their services for the upkeep and maintenance of the center.
H. COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
Aside from its DIET program, CITE offers short term skills upgrading courses to out-of-school youth within the community. The training helps them become a productive member of the society. Moreover, CITE’s strong industry linkage is consistently strengthened by offering the expertise of its faculty through the Faculty Lending Program.
The Faculty Lending Program also keeps CITE’s faculty updated with the latest trend in technology.
I. COORDINATION WITH OTHER SERVICES
Aside from the strong linkages with the industry, CITE has a very good relationship with the Manila-based UA&P Foundation, Inc. and the Meralco Foundation Inc. These two institutions contribute to the financial resources and technical expertise of CITE to ensure the success of CITE’s mission.
The Provincial Government of Cebu also donated some six million pesos for student tuition and fees, as well as student subsidies in the first two years of school operations. The Department of Science and Technology and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) have both extended whatever assistance they can give, such as through the Private Education Student Financial Aid (PESFA) grants for students, rent-free use of facilities, and as client for the 5S of Good Housekeeping seminars.
J. COURSES IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Through basic business courses, CITE aims to encourage more innovations in the rural business sector and contribute to the economic development in the Philippine countryside.
Integrated into the DIET program are Courses in Entrepreneurship designed to equip the participants with the necessary knowledge needed to establish and run a small business enterprise. Emphasis is placed on entrepreneurial motivation and thinking, as well as resources generation and business management. Also included are step-by-step procedures in the preparation of complete feasibility studies and project proposals.
K. SUSTAINABILITY
To ensure the effectiveness and upgrading of the program’s design, content, and methodology, CITE has a team of experts who serves as the center’s think-tank. The Board of Advisers, composed of respected industrialists, industry professionals, and businessmen, provide CITE the expertise and wisdom it needs to carry out its mission.
L. VALUES FORMATION CENTER
CITE functions as a values formation center for its students, their parents, staff, and clients. Seminars on work values and productivity are also offered to industry.
The “Back-to-Basics on Values and Attitudes Seminar” is designed to improve employee productivity by stressing on the positive values and attitudes of people. This is essentially a back-to-basics re-evaluation of one’s values and attitudes towards everyday work.
This seminar is applicable from the managerial level down to the supervisory level. This is also applicable to the rank-and-file with some changes regarding the anecdotes, examples, and speakers who are specially picked to handle each group.
The DIET program aims to contribute to the country’s progress and development by providing industry with competent technicians. The program hopes not only to contribute to the solution of unemployment but also to create a new breed of technicians trained in global standards.
M. DYNAMIC LEARNING PROGRAM
In June 2013, CITE adopted the Central Visayan Institute Foundation – Dynamic Learning Program (CVIF-DLP) as a training methodology. DLP is a systems-based scientific approach for enhanced learning especially in the sciences, mathematics and humanities. With process-induced learning as a new paradigm superseding teacher-induced learning the DLP progressively allows a liberal spectrum of learners, from slow to fast, to achieve superior scholastic performance. DLP is authored by Drs. Christopher and Marivic Bernido and first used in Central Visayan Institute Foundation.