The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) conducted the ICT Specialist Proficiency Examination in Ilocos Norte, an eligibility test equivalent to a Career Service Professional examination of the Civil Service Commission (CSC).

Held at the MMSU Information Technology Center last August 16, the test covered topics in areas of computer programming.

A total of 15 examinees who were graduates three tertiary schools in the province took the examination at the MMSU's Information and Technology Center (ITC). Seven of them were graduates of MMSU, six from the Divine Word College of Laoag (DWCL), and two from the Data Center College of the Philippines (DCP) - Laoag campus.

The conduct of the examination is pursuant to Presidential Decree 1408, which directs the DICT and the CSC, to devise ways of determining the fitness of individuals who will occupy highly technical ICT positions both in the government and in the private sector, and through which the awarding of appropriate ICT (Electronic Data Processing) Specialist Eligibility will be based.

"Aside from being used as substitute to a CS Professional eligibility, it can also be used by various ICT stakeholders such as those supervisors involved in evaluating the competence of ICT programmers," said Prof. Wilben Christie Pagtaconan, director of MMSU's Information Technology Center (ITC).

Also, the test can be used by an individual practitioner who would assess his knowledge and skills for the purpose of continually improving his technical abilities, and those manning various ICT training centers to enrich their curricula and to enable their students to have a better chance of joining the corps of competent ICT professionals.

Pagtaconan said that the examinees "have already passed the assessment or diagnostic examination that was held in September 2018 and March 2019," saying that the next thing they should do is to pass the Assess-Build-Certify certification process before they get the eligibility.

As part of the certification process, prospective examinees are assessed by an authorized DICT representative for free. The tool, which the Competency Standards and Certification Management (CSCM) Division will design, will be a written examination that will assess the examinees knowledge in computer programming. 

The score attained from the assessment process forms 30 percent of the total score of the examinee and he will take the hands-on certification test. Passing score for the assessment is 25 percent.

Meanwhile, those who fail the assessment process may undergo additional hours of training and/or learning activities that will enhance their knowledge and skills in computer programming. But those who pass are eligible to take the final stage of the certification process, which will be administered by an authorized CSCM staff. 

The hands-on examination involves a six-hour simple application development using the examinee's preferred language, such as the C Language or C#, C++, Java, and Visual Basic. Passing score for this test is 70 percent.

The result of the examination will be sent to the examinees via email, six weeks from the date of the examination. An examinee who gets a total rating of 80 percent or higher is considered an ICT proficient.