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GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/18 December) — The city government is set to distribute 485 more personal computers (PC) to various local public schools as part of the continuing implementation of its expanded school computerization program. Percival Pasuelo, executive assistant for information technology of the city mayor’s office, said the local government is scheduled to deliver before yearend around 10 to 20 PCs to 11 public high schools that were earlier identified as among the program’s beneficiaries for this year. “All the 485 brand new computers are now ready for distribution,” the official said in a statement. Pasuelo said the distribution of the additional PCs aims to further improve the capacities of the computer laboratories of local public schools and enhance the implementation of the city’s SHEEP-Computer Literacy Program (CLP). SHEEP stands for Social Transformation, Human Empowerment, Economic Diversification, Environment Security and Regeneration and Participatory Governance and Transparency, which are the city’s main development thrusts. The city government earlier launched the CLP as a major component of the SHEEP program’s education-related initiatives. Under the school computerization program, Pasuelo said schools with over 1,000 students will receive 20 PCs while those with less than 1,000 students will get 10 PC units. He said the recipients of the new PCs are Banisil High School, Buayan High School, Bawing High School, Buscano High School in Barangay Oympog, Johnny Ang High School in Barangay Katangawan, Ligaya High School, Paopao High School in Barangay Sinawal, Samboang-Ngilay High School in Barangay Batomelong, SPED Integrated School in Barangay San Isidro, Upper Labay National High School and Valdomar High School in Barangay Mabuhay. “The remaining computers will be distributed initially to all central elementary schools. The other elementary and primary schools will receive their share in 2013,” Pasuelo said. Since July last year, the official said the city government has already spent a total of P1.432 million for the school computerization program. Eight public secondary schools received 20 units each while seven others got 10 units for their computer and speech laboratories. SHEEP-CLP was launched by the local government in 1999 as the implementing arm of its information technology programs. The program helped local public schools in putting up their own computer laboratories as well as provided consultancy and training to pupils, students and teachers on basic computer operations. A pet project of City Mayor Darlene Magnolia Antonino-Custodio, the program mainly aims at “bringing technology inside the classroom and empower the youths towards the direction of city’s total economic development.” (Allen V. Estabillo/MindaNews)