Tuguegarao City (19 October) -- The Department of Labor and Employment, Region 02 (DOLE), in relation to Executive Order No. 788 of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's "Promoting A Youth National Service", will be hiring 210 mentors in the region under the Kabataan Information Technology Opportunity (K ITo) program.

Regional Dircetor Grace Y. Ursua said some 60 mentors will be hired from Cagayan, 80 from Isabela, 30 each from Nueva Vizcaya & Quirino and 10 from the province of Batanes.

She said the youth mentors will impart practical IT knowledge and skills to non-IT-literate youths and other disadvantaged sectors through short appreciation and familiarization sessions using a suggested guide.

"They will also assist walk-in clients to get access to online government services. Every mentor will be coaching 8 OSYs/disadvantaged youths totaling to some 1,680 beneficiaries in the region. Likewise, these mentors will be entitled to a stipend of P25.00 for every hour of service," Ursua said.

This program is an earning and learning project through which the IT-literate unemployed youth shall be tapped as mentor in improving IT literacy among the out-of-school youths and other disadvantaged youths through free mentoring sessions and in bringing the government closer to the people through free, supervised internet access to online government programs and services for poor students, out-of-school youths, disadvantaged OFWs, occupationally disabled workers and informal sector workers and their dependents through information and communication technologies.

Ursua also announced that the launching of the Kabataan Ito program will be on October 21, 2009 in Tuguegarao City. A MOA signing will be executed with partner agencies and also the release of contracts for the mentors.