Media Release
August 11, 2022
First Gen-owned Energy Development Corporation (EDC), the country’s largest geothermal energy producer, partnered with leading educational technology platform Edukasyon.ph to empower the youth to make conscious education decisions that lead to a fulfilling career.
Through the geothermal firm’s banner education program SIKAT, EDC collaborated with Edukasyon.ph and developed the Ignite the Future Quest, an engaging and interactive online activity where high school and college students can learn how to plan, find their calling, give back to communities, and take the next steps toward a regenerative future.
SIKAT is EDC’s banner education program that aims to provide educational support to the underprivileged but deserving youth in its host communities. The program outweighs other social projects due to its capacity to break intergenerational poverty. Since 2011, the SIKAT program has produced 210 scholars who study at the University of the Philippines and other leading state colleges & universities in EDC’s areas of operation across the country. From these, EDC has produced 90 graduates and is expecting 45 more this year.
The Ignite the Future Quest contains four tasks that the students or users need to finish to earn points and rewards. Each task has a theme that will help students to discover their passion, decide on a good course to take in college, think about some key points in future planning, and design a career-readiness plan.
Some college students and potential SIKAT scholars tried the Ignite the Future Quest and shared their experiences.
For Jello Tyron Quebuen, a first-year college student taking up BS Petroleum Engineering in Batangas State University – The National Engineering University, his favorite task was the one that talks about the courses to consider contributing to a regenerative future. “To my surprise, there are a lot of environmentally-focused courses that may help us in combating the ever-arising problems about the environment,” Jello said.
Another freshie college scholar, Mary Grace Doctor, commended the quest for being informative and interactive. “I learned a lot of things [through Ignite the Future Quest]. It also clears my mind on which course I should take that aligns with my passion and skills,” she said.
The Bachelor of Secondary Education student also shared, “this platform also tackles the ways on how we can discover our purpose, questions for ourselves in planning our future, gives us an idea on the courses that we can take to contribute to a regenerative future, and enumerates some tips to start our career readiness plan. I could say that this learning tool enlightened me with the knowledge I needed.”
An incoming BS Accountancy student and one of EDC Leyte’s potential SIKAT scholars in Eastern Visayas State University – Tanauan Campus Lover Jand Saldo has a different story to tell. He did not pay too much attention to the points per task but focused on the stories and questions. “I had a great time reading those different courses in the quest because honestly, I don’t have any idea that some of those courses exist. It is a great help for an incoming first-year like me,” Lover admitted.
The incoming freshman said he would recommend the quest to his friends and other students who are currently struggling in choosing their college courses.
A Visayas State University student, Edriane Papiona, shared the same sentiment as Lover. She said in an interview, “this quest enables us to prepare ourselves for the obstacles that we might encounter as we go on to our college journey. It gives us a glimpse of our future and taught me to focus on my passion and apply my experiences and determination to survive throughout my journey.”
Know more about the quest and win exciting prizes, take the #IgniteTheFutureQuest here: https://bit.ly/IgniteTheFutureQuest
Energy Development Corporation (EDC) is First Gen Corporation’s 100 percent RE subsidiary with over 1,480MW total installed capacity that accounts for 20 percent of the country’s total installed RE capacity. Its 1,185MW geothermal portfolio comprises 62 percent of the country’s total installed geothermal capacity and is the 3rd largest geothermal producer in the world. ###