Passerelles Numeriques (PN) which means digital bridges is a French non-profit organization that started in Cambodia in 2005 whose founders were interested in bridging the digital literacy gap, in particular by providing an access to I.T. education, job placements, and professional and personal growth and development to the most disadvantaged young people. PN is now operating in three countries: Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines.
In the Philippines, PN started its mission in 2009 with a training center based in Cebu, the central region of the Visayas. In 2012, the first class graduated with 24 students and all of them had a job upon graduation. On April 11, 2013, a local entity was created and registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as Passerelles Numeriques Philippines Foundation, Inc. The local entity assumed PN’s operations and activities in the Philippines.
PN Phils. has no Training Center per se. However, it has two Centers in Cebu where the students stay and live during the duration of their 2.5 – year IT Education Programme at the University of San Carlos (USC). The Curriculum was developed by PN and submitted to USC for approval. After USC’s approval, it was submitted to CHED and was approved. PN students receive a Certificate on Computer Technology when they graduate. The 2.5 year education and training includes a 9-month OJT with partner agencies. PN Phils. has a Memorandum of Agreement with USC. PN pays USC a total of P16,500/student per semester covering lab fees, misc. fees and tuition fees. The fees are very much discounted as compared to non-PN students (e.g. lab fee for regular students would cost P500/hr. while lab fee for PN students is only priced at P100/hr.
