So the results are in. I got a scholarship from Project Sparta taking up Data Engineering pathway. The program costs a total of P12,999 but was given a scholarship to pay only half of that. It was free a year before but started charging this year.

What is Project Sparta?

On their website:

Project Smarter Philippines through Data Analytics, R&D, Training, and Adoption (SPARTA) is dedicated to putting in place the necessary online education, research and development mechanisms, and infrastructure to enable the industry of Data Science and Analytics, and foster smart governance practices.

https://sparta.dap.edu.ph

Essentially, Project Sparta is an initiative to train professionals to data related fields.

Data Engineer

So why did I pick data engineer pathway? It’s the most similar to what I’m currently doing as a software engineer. So I might as well take this pathway and expose myself to more infrastructure related tasks as well as to learn how to manage data. Python will be the main language to use and SQL for the database which I am already familiar. I believe the usage of cloud services might also be an advantage since I’m already exposed to that at work.

Actually, the reason for taking Sparta and Data Engineering for me is because I’m curious. I’m happy as a software engineer but I’m also open to other fields if I think it’s more interesting. Since they are all related to one another, I’m sure that data engineering would help me become a better software engineer and vice versa. Besides, the actual job might actually be interesting. Who knows?

What’s the catch?

In return for the scholarship,

• I need to do an on the job training (OJT)
• I need to participate in their internal study
• I also need to pass the courses

If I didn’t accomplish the above requirement, I will have to pay them back the amount of the scholarship.

That’s it for now.