Energy Development Corporation (EDC) continues its partnership with Australiabased nonprofit organization LiteHaus International by providing a total of 330 laptops to 22 elementary schools in Albay and Sorsogon City.
The endeavor is part of the two organizations’ ongoing union that kicked off in EDC’s geothermal site in Kidapawan, North Cotabato in 2022.
LiteHaus established its first partnership in the Philippines with EDC, in collaboration with DXC Technology, to address digital poverty in the country. A total of 270 refurbished laptops were distributed to 18 schools in Kidapawan. Since then, LiteHaus founder and CEO Jack Growden made a commitment to the Department of Education (DepEd) that they will help more Filipino schools in its digitalization program through their partnership with EDC.
During the December 2023 memorandum of understanding signing ceremony in Sorsogon, Eduardo Jimenez, EDC head of corporate relations division-Bacman, acknowledged the opportunity to collaborate with LiteHaus in empowering students to thrive in the digital age by providing them with the necessary tools and resources for seamless and effective online learning.
“Teachers and heads, thank you for your continued support for our effort to bring about concrete changes and developments for our students,” Jimenez said. “For educators and partners present here, one of the many things that we can do is to invest in the kids and their education.
We are thankful that we are finally able to do that through LiteHaus.”
Charo Dichoso-Logronio, representative of Sorsogon City mayor Ester Hamor, also expressed the city government’s desire to digitalize local schools.
“Thank you very much, EDC, DepEd and barangay officials for always collaborating with the city government,” said Dichoso-Logronio.
The event was followed by the distribution and installation of refurbished laptops to Rizal Integrated National School, Inang Maharang Elementary School and Nagotgot Elementary School in Manito, Albay; and Pawa Elementary School and Sto. Niño Integrated School in Sorsogon.
LiteHaus and EDC will oversee the implementation phase, which will include setting up computer labs in the selected schools, software licensing and access to offline educational materials where applicable.
(Story/Photos by: Frances Ariola)
