GLOBE Telecom has partnered with De La Salle University to enhance the school’s delivery of world class Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics education to its students.

The collaboration between the two institutions aims to develop modules and specialized courses that will promote more interest to DLSU’s STEM academic programs.

“De La Salle University has been working with different industries and academic institutions to foster collaborations and in various fields. The DLSU Intellectual Property Office and the Innovation and Technology Office work to connect DLSU researchers to industry and this is one example of such a role. We believe that STEM education is relevant not only in this time of the pandemic but also in light of the 5th Industrial Revolution. We welcome Globe as a partner in developing STEM education in hopes of serving more people in enriching their skills and advancing their careers,” Atty. Christopher Cruz, Director of the DLSU Intellectual Property Office, said.

Globe, on the other hand, believes that strengthening  students’ knowledge and skills in STEM will help them nurture innovation that will eventually equip the nation with the workforce of the future.

“We aim to  develop, modernize  and extend  new courses and class offerings for adoption in the tertiary level, not just for the partner university, but for adoption by other campuses, most especially state universities that are looking to deepen their offerings around STEM. This includes nurturing a mindset that embraces the digital age and values the need to make full use of technology and innovation to drive long term and lasting progress,” Yoly Crisanto, Globe SVP for Corporate Communications and Chief Sustainability Officer, said.

Demand for STEM-related occupations is among the highest and best-paid jobs. Unfortunately, students from low-income families are substantially underrepresented in STEM.

One main problem is lack of access of families to resources that help enable STEM education. Many low-income families cannot afford high quality gadgets or stable internet connection, tools needed  for a child’s exposure and early proficiency in technology.

In addition, children from low-income families are usually enrolled in schools with limited STEM educational resources.

“With our partnership with DLSU, we hope to be able to deliver new and innovative learning modules catering to more students especially those who are underprivileged. We hope that this partnership will spark stronger collaboration with the academe to improve the quality of education as well as make it more accessible to all,” Crisanto said.

The scope of the partnership between Globe and DLSU includes joint development of educational programs, which can extend to various strands such as articulated degree programs, non-degree programs, certification programs, and training programs, particularly STEM.

It also covers sharing and creation of materials and resources; joint conduct of technical and business development activities, such as field testing, prototype development, proof-of-concept testing, customer discovery, and market studies for DLSU Innovations; and joint conduct of research projects in particular fields of study.