TESDA gets additional P1.1 B, eyes 8M techvoc trainees

MANILA, Philippines - The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) welcomed the move of President Aquino giving it an additional P1.1 billion fund for the grant of technical-vocational education and training (TVET) scholarships.

TESDA Director General Jose Villanueva said the agency aims to provide free skills training to over eight million people who would enroll in various technical-vocational courses in the next five years.

With the huge number of techvoc enrollees, Villanueva said, TESDA is faced with the challenge of regularly reviewing and enhancing the curricula to provide practical hands-on training complemented by a base of core academic knowledge.

Of the target tech-voc trainees, TESDA aims to hit a 90 percent completion rate or about 7,715,610 of the trainees finishing their courses.

From 1.1 million this year, Villanueva said, the number of techvoc enrollees annually is projected to increase 1.7 by the end of 2016. Of the total enrollees more than four million or 60 percent are expected to graduate and undergo skills assessment.

Of those who would go through the assessment, a total of 3,993,227 are expected to be certified, representing a certification rate of between 85 to 87.5 percent.

From the number of certified workers who are also called “TESDA specialists,” the agency is also eyeing a 60.8 percent employment rate.

Villanueva stressed that there was a growing demand among out-of-work Filipinos for TVET, and the realization that TVET was a faster way towards gaining employment.

“There is a growing awareness that tech-voc skills training can lead to jobs either in the local job market or abroad,” Villanueva said.

He said TESDA is exerting efforts to generate skilled workers who are competent, employable, productive, and flexible to the changing requirements of the industry and the labor markets, locally and overseas.

By 2016, Villanueva pointed out that Department of Education’s own ambitious program to improve the quality of high school graduates in the country, the Kindergarten (K)+12 basic education curriculum (BEC) program starts with the additional two years of senior high school put in place.

Under the government’s development plan, TESDA would provide alternative, yet relevant education, especially to those who could not afford to go to college.

The TESDA chief said that as its clientele grows and requirements for infrastructure, training and other resources increase, it is important that the government boosts its investment to the TVET through increased appropriation.