Students in barangay across Manila will soon be able to learn basic computer skills without leaving their communities, as the city begins deploying mobile facilities that will rotate through every village in the capital.
The Mobile Computer Learning Center, placed under the supervision of the Manila City Library Office, gives users hands-on access to computers and instruction in foundational digital skills. Two of the units will move into a different pair of barangay each week, a rotation the city intends to continue until all 896 barangay have been covered.
Mayor Isko Moreno formally accepted two of the units, a donation from the Junior Chamber International (JCI), during the city government’s regular Monday flag-raising ceremony. The centers were turned over the same day.
For Moreno, the project carries a personal history. He recalled setting up the Isko Moreno Computer Learning Center back in 1998 during his time as a councilor, an effort he said produced 20,000 graduates. “That’s why I saw the value of this to the youth, because many of our students went on to further study in the tech industry,” he said.
The mayor framed the rollout as a way to reach residents who have been left out of the digital shift. “This will help many of our learners who want to access computers and digital learning, especially those who don’t have access to it,” he wrote in a Facebook post.
He added that he wants the new units to lift students’ digital literacy and steer more of them toward work in the technology field.
