Problematic Careers
Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) have been called "The Heroes of the Philippines Economy." Over 7.4 million OFWs work overseas, and they remit over US$8 billion per year back to the Philippines. The majority are engaged in domestic service; many are crew in the maritime industry. Most spend many years away from home accumulating capital and funding their families back home.
But returning OFWs have to confront two paradoxes. The first is that although foreign employment provides a steady income for their families—on average OFWs send back $288 per month—it does not provide the OFWs with careers. Many leave the Philippines before their formal education is finished. Even those who do finish their education find that the skills they have learned while away have no market back in the Philippines. Most struggle to find good work. The second paradox is that although the OFW's work supports the family financially,
the emotional effects of long-term separation often prove difficult to manage.
Project Partnership
The Overseas Welfare and Workers Administration (OWWA) was founded as a trust in 1977 to provide welfare assistance, counseling, and repatriation assistance to OFWs. The OWWA is an ideal partner in Microsoft’s Unlimited Potential (UP) initiative to help OFWs. In July 2004, the partners jointly launched Project Tulay. OWWA helps secure and manage the overseas venues for the project, and Microsoft provides grants, software, and the training curriculum.
The objectives of Project Tulay are threefold: to broaden the career opportunities for OFWs; to facilitate communication within families; and to help re-integrate OFWs into the Philippines economy when they return. The strategy is to deliver Information and Communication Technology (ICT) training sufficient to provide a baseline of skills for otherwise unskilled workers. In the process the OFWs are able to use e-mail to stay engaged with their families during their years away.
Although still in its first full year, the training program
has already achieved its first success. Consul General
Luis Cruz at the Philippines Embassy in Kuala Lumpur
recounts that one domestic helper is now her employer’s
full-time executive assistant. Cruz said, "She prepares the
confidential memos while the boss’ wife does the cleaning."
"These classes are extremely popular. Filipino women
are learning word processing and how to create
spreadsheets. They’re creating PowerPoint presentations of business plans for small businesses they want to start when they return to the Philippines."
Steve Ballmer, CEO, Microsoft Corporation
Engaging Embassies
A flexible, modular course was designed for students who have little or no ICT experience. The basic Computer Fundamentals class comprises 24 hours of closely supervised tutoring; the more advanced course–which includes Microsoft Office programs and Internet training–takes an additional 48 hours. Microsoft-designed classes are scheduled on alternate Sundays to conform to the established pattern of maids’ days off.
In Singapore, where over 100,000 Philippines OFWs live, the courses are delivered over four to six months at an annex to the Philippines Embassy, and are operated under the auspices of a local organization: Filipino Overseas Workers in Singapore (FOWS). The classes are usually overbooked, and with only 600 people trained the potential demand remains huge.
The Philippines Embassy in Kuala Lumpur uses the same curriculum, which is spread out over 10 months and delivered under the supervision of the Filipino Workers Resources Center (FWRC). Despite charging a modest attendance fee, the overwhelming demand for the Computer Fundamentals course has already required the addition of an extra class. The first set of 150 students received the training.
Completing the triangle is the Tulay program in Manila, which is managed by OWWA and is delivering the UP curriculum to over 1,000 OFW dependents and OFWs who have already returned to the Philippines. The most obvious incentive for OFW families is the potential for increasing communication between family members during long periods of absence.
Rolling Out the Model
In 2005, the Tulay program extended its formula and curriculum to two other Asian locations: Hong Kong, home to the largest concentration of expatriate Filipinos, and Taiwan, which hosts the third largest number of OFWs. OWWA also opened a CTLC facility in Cebu, the largest city in the Visayas. These extensions to the UP program will mean that the ICT curriculum is delivered to 3,500 OFWs.
In the Philippines, UP has discovered that ICT can help defray both the human cost and the human consequences of long-term expatriate labor. As the idea of training and connecting OFWs is replicated across the region, UP is analyzing whether the model can be applied in other parts of the world where families routinely endure many years of separation.
"Technology empowers, and that's exactly what we
will do at the Center for our OFWs."
Marianito D. Roque, Chief, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, at the
inauguration of the new CTLC in Pasay City
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