TESDA eyes more scholars next year

CEBU, Philippines - With an increased budget next year, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority aims to enroll more scholars and get skilled workers assessed for certification.

  TESDA director general Joel Villanueva said they are targeting 231,579 scholars for enrolment in 2016 under the Training for Work Scholarship Program. The figure is higher than the 210,526 scholars targeted this year.

Villanueva said that under the Aquino administration, a total of 7.8 million have graduated from Tech-Voc programs and 86 percent of the employers are satisfied by their work performance.

Villanueva said that the program’s budget has increased from the current P2 billion to P2.203 billion next year.

The TWSP is one of TESDA’s major programs directed towards filling up the skills gaps and job requirements of priority industries and sectors with high employment demand, improving the reach of quality technical vocational education and training to the grassroots and encouraging tech-voc institutions to offer programs in higher qualifications catering to in-demand industry requirements.

Villanueva was in Cebu yesterday to grace the 1st National Quality TVET Forum with a hope to drumbeat the importance of and advocate Quality Management System that can be adopted by TVET Institutions towards producing excellent TVET graduates in terms of skilled workforce.

Villanueva said that TVET institutions through the STAR Rating System are ensured that they have quality programs as well as the quality of their graduates.

Villanueva said that Filipino skilled workers, who are TESDA graduates, are preferred among foreign employers because aside from being highly-skilled, they know how to speak the English language.

Villanueva said that Filipina skilled workers are more preferred by employers because they treat their job like their own child and especially the women welders.

Yesterday’s forum organized by the Cebu Association of Public-Private TVET Institutions aims to increase awareness of TVET providers on the different QMS standards/awards they can adopt in their journey towards program and institutional excellence.

It also aims to advocate the importance of quality standards in providing TVET training that can be realized through QMS certification or accreditation as major partners of TESDA in the development of the Filipino workforce with world-class competence and positive work values.

Villanueva also awarded the winners in the Regional Skills Competition which showcase the competence and skills of the TVET graduates. 

The competition aims to promote and improve the TVET sector in the country with the active participation of private industries. — (FREEMAN)