College of Saint Benilde and Adobe partner to drive creative excellence for special-needs students

Specialist program empowers Deaf students by leveraging Adobe Creative Cloud to create a new generation of artists with industry-relevant experience for future careers

The De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB), Philippines, has entered into a partnership with global technology leader, Adobe Systems. DLS-CSB is one of very few colleges in the Philippines that offers tertiary education to Deaf students through the School of Deaf Education and Applied Studies (SDEAS), and this partnership sees students from the specialist program using the Adobe Creative Cloud suite of software to learn and apply creative thinking skills, enabling higher digital literacy and employability.

This alliance is an important enabler of the school’s strategic vision to offer broad and in-depth creative curriculum for students of the digital era. Universities around the world are adopting real-world solutions to make sure students have a leading edge when entering the workforce. DLS-CSB has taken this approach one step further by establishing a specialized learning program for Deaf students. The College began its specialist program for Deaf students in 1991, and today, it is creating a new generation of artists and designers who are working with the best technology and gaining valuable experience on design and graphic tools that they will use in their future careers.

With Adobe Creative Cloud, SDEAS students are gaining significant opportunities to learn a range of skills across graphic arts, empowering them to try new and different things outside of their regular curriculum. This includes volunteering with non-government organisations (NGOs) for Deaf advocacy programs, developing collaterals from websites and newsletters to logos and videos.

In addition to being a nation-leading program and providing opportunities to the students to do things outside their curriculum, the SDEAS program is also producing highly skilled workers. Companies are in full support of the graduates and the program is also fast becoming a flagship for the College. Prospective and current employers have also expressed high regard for the students, with many highlighting that the graduates have become important members of their creative teams. It is no surprise that graduates of the program have already found work with a wide variety of companies from the publishing and media industries to the hospitality and business outsourcing industries.

“Empowered with the tools and software from Adobe’s Creative Cloud, our students have a leading edge when entering the workforce and are at the forefront of the evolution of design and graphics,” said Brother Dennis Magbanua, FSC, President and Chancellor, De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde. “Our students at SDEAS excel at visual communications as it is something in which they face no limitations. I am extremely humbled by our students’ hard work and efforts to expand their creative skills and deliver outstanding work, whether at school or at their workplaces. I am proud to say that DLS-CSB continues to remain as one of the few tertiary schools in the country that gives excellent education and career opportunities to the Deaf.”

“Our long-term relationship with the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde is of great significance and pride to Adobe, and acts as a source of ongoing motivation as our teams push to innovate,” said Paul Robson, President of Adobe Asia Pacific. “This continued partnership and commitment to Adobe software is a strong validation of our solutions and further strengthens our valued partnership. We’re honoured to support the College in pursuit of its mission goals and to help empower its students with creative thinking.”

“Adobe Creative Cloud enables me to express my creativity without any confines or restrictions. I’ve learnt a range of skills across the visual arts field that has enabled me to try different things I’ve never tried before,” said Bennett John Cabanilla, student at SDEAS. “The opportunity for me to channel my creativity into Deaf advocacy programs is something that’s very close to my heart and something that I am thankful for.”

As Adobe Creative Cloud becomes a core part of the program’s curriculum, the College has big plans to use it and continue growing its nation-leading program for the deaf. Teachers also hope to grow the course’s already successful internship program, with many companies increasingly allowing interns to use their work as part of their professional portfolio.

DLS-CSB is one of the few tertiary schools that gives career opportunities to the Deaf

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