TESDA, YouthWorks launch free skills training program

MANILA, Philippines — Young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) can soon undergo free skills training and look for employment as the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and the Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) recently forged an agreement for a workforce development project, to provide skills training to youth NEET.

PBEd, which implements the five-year, P1.7-billion project dubbed YouthWorks PH in partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with TESDA to develop work-based training programs for youth NEET.

The agreement also covers the updating and improvement of relevant curricula and training regulations and the formulation of industry immersion programs for trainers.

“With this MOU, TESDA and PBEd will work hand in hand to update competency standards, curricula and training regulations and create new ones. PBEd will also help in providing industry technical experts in the process and assist in the industry immersion (for technical-vocational education and training or TVET),” TESDA director general Secretary Guiling Mamondiong said.

YouthWorks PH mobilizes the private sector to work with TVET institutions to develop training programs for youth NEET so that they can get gainful employment afterwards.

“TESDA must ensure, more than ever before, to strengthen its ties with the industry so that no one gets left behind in the fast-paced workplace,” Mamondiong said.

Under the partnership, YouthWorks PH and TESDA will be collaborating to formulate innovative models for work-based training in the fields of construction, hospitality and tourism, agriculture, manufacturing, energy, and banking and finance.

The partnership between TESDA and PBEd is expected to align education and training, and enable people to get the right jobs.

YouthWorks PH targets to enhance the skills of 40,000 youth NEET in the National Capital Region, Iloilo, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, Davao, Zamboanga and General Santos City over the next five years.

It will focus on six growth areas that have also been identified by the Department of Labor and Employment as key employment generators or emerging industries in the regions: agriculture, banking and finance, construction, hospitality and tourism, energy and manufacturing.

PBEd is a non-profit organization founded in 2006 by top chief operating officers in the country as the business community’s response to the need for greater education and economy alignment.

USAID administers the US foreign assistance programs providing economic and humanitarian assistance in more than 80 countries worldwide.