DOST, Telstra to provide electricity, Starbooks in Cordillera schools

Burgos said the project was in partnership with telecommunications firm Telstra, which had been providing solar panels and computers to schools. (Photo: stii.dost.gov.ph)

MANILA — Select schools in the Cordillera Administrative Region will get solar panels and computers within the month, an official of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) said.

“Schools in CAR would not just have internet connectivity but also electricity,” DOST-Science and Technology Information Institute (STII) Director Richard Burgos told the Philippine News Agency (PNA), adding that the ceremonial turnover of solar panels and computers would happen before the end of February.

Burgos said the project was in partnership with telecommunications firm Telstra, which had been providing solar panels and computers to schools.

He said the firm had partnered with DOST because of its Starbooks (Science and Technology Academic and Research-Based Openly Operated Kiosk Station), a digital library that could be accessed without internet connectivity.

Developed by the DOST-STII, Starbooks contains both local and foreign S&T resources in text, video and audio formats. Among the contents include journals, livelihood videos, investigative materials, and encyclopedia.

In 2015, Starbooks got the American Library Association Presidential Citation for Innovative International Library Projects at the International Librarians Reception in San Francisco, California.

Burgos said the computer units would be delivered to schools in CAR by Telstra employees themselves who were mountaineers. (PNA)