The Negros Occidental provincial government unveiled the new Negros Occidental Language and Information Technology Center (NOLITC) Global Campus in Talisay City on Tuesday, July 1.
It is an innovation hub that is future-ready, industry-responsive, and globally connected.
The P135-million structure is built on a 2.5-hectare donated land in Barangay Matab-ang, NOLITC’s permanent home after staying for almost 17 years at the Paglaum Sports Complex in Bacolod City.
The NOLITC Global Campus has a three-story building equipped with classrooms or laboratories for courses on Contact Center Services, Animation and 2D Animation, Visual Graphics Design, Computer-Aided Design, Robotics, and e-sports.
The main building also houses the administration office, business hub, faculty room, guidance office, library and auditoriums.
A dormitory and cafeteria for students are located near the entrance.
Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson and Vice Governor Jose Benito Alonso led the unveiling of the marker of the new campus, in the presence of Talisay City Mayor Rowena Lizares, other provincial government officials, and representatives from government agencies and industry-partners.
Lacson said the event marked a new chapter in the history of education in Negros Occidental and in the lives of Negrenses whose futures would be transformed by knowledge, skills and opportunities.
“This new NOLITC campus is proof of our larger and determined vision. It is a legacy of our shared belief that education, to be effective and responsive, must be inclusive, innovative, and accessible, particularly in the countryside,” he said.
NOLITC, which is accredited by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), is the first and only government-run language and IT school in Western Visayas and Negros Island Region.
Since it was established in 2008, NOLITC has produced 8,888 graduates with an employment rate of 83 percent.
“Today’s blessing solidifies NOLITC’s transformation into a provincial innovation hub. Here, we will expand our focus to include artificial intelligence training, micro-credential courses and international certification programs,” Lacson said.
Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz II described the new campus as “NOLITC 5.0.”
“The provincial government gave everything to make sure that for the first time, our infrastructure, our hardware will match the potentials and the capabilities of our NOLITC staff and its partners,” he said.
TESDA Director General Jose Francisco Benitez, in a message delivered by Focal for Local Government Unit Linkages Jason Tupas, said the inauguration of the NOLITC Global Campus is “a major step forward.”
“NOLITC will not just be a school, it will be a center of innovation. It will house best practices, deliver industry-calibrated, demand-driven training and support, not only for the information technology and business process management sector, but also for other emerging industries. In short, we are future-proofing Negros,” he said.*PNA