Roberto Montelibano, president of the Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said he is supporting efforts to establish an Information Technology curriculum in local schools that will support the business process outsourcing industry, particularly the call center companies, in Bacolod City and Negros Occidental.

Montelibano said the local academe should be supported to further develop educational and training opportunities for students who can be prospective employees of call centers.

Major call center companies Teleperformance and TeleTech are now operating in Bacolod while another leading operator, Convergys, is also expected to start its operations in the city this year.

The Bacolod IT Focus Team, headed by Councilor Jocelle Batapa-Sigue, had earlier said it is coordinating with the IT Network of Schools in Bacolod and Negros Occidental, composed of 36 colleges and universities, to produce competent graduates whose skills and knowledge are relevant to the development of the ICT industry.

Both the IT Team and ITSNET are hoping to secure at least one percent of the projected 1.3 million jobs under the country's cyberservices sector from 2006 to 2010.

Meanwhile, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines is pushing for increased government funding for skills training programs that will allow more Filipinos to qualify for good-paying jobs in the call center industry.

The group made the appeal after it completed a one-month skills retooling of more than 1,400 trainees for call center jobs.

TUCP spokesperson Alex Aguilar said the initial training program has been successful, and more than 70 percent of the graduates qualified for full employment in leading call center companies.*NLG

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