Close to 300,000 out-of-school youth as well as unemployed graduates benefits from the Jobs Bridging and Internship Program of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), which set up 1,628 "Help Desks" nationwide. From January 2013 to November this year, 281,666 jobseekers assisted by the desks were hired, through referrals and job matching.
Through its jobs bridging event held in the regions, TESDA has helped to bridge the hiring gap for Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) graduates. Close to 1.7 million Filipinos are enrolled in various TVET programs in institutions, enterprises, and communities. Of these, about 1.5 million graduated. Of the 935,230 individuals assessed, 803,350 or 86 percent were certified. TESDA has a network of over 4,000 public and private institutions.
TESDA's Specialistas Technopreneurship Program (TSTP) assists unemployed TVET graduates find sustenance through entrepreneurial activity. Under the program, TVET graduates are formed into "TESDA Specialistas" who are on-call to provide skilled services-for-fee to community households, such as building/house repair and maintenance, beauty care and wellness, appliance repair, automotive/vehicle maintenance, tourism and health related, and computer hardware. TESDA also implements enterprise-based programs, such as "Kasanayan at Hanapbuhay" program which produced 69,192 graduates this year.
Technical-vocational (tech-voc) courses are becoming popular among young Filipinos. Public schools and government centers offer tech-voc courses for them as well as adults who may wish to acquire skills and technical knowhow. The government is encouraging sectoral participation in developing the potentials of the country's human resources. Popular courses for men are computer technology, cellphone repair, auto mechanic, electrical installation and maintenance, construction painting, masonry, heavy equipment servicing, and carpentry, while women prefer caregiving, dressmaking, beadmaking, culinary art, cosmetology, reflexology, and food technology.
We congratulate Department of Education Secretary Armin A. Luistro and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority Director General Joel J. Villanueva, all the best and success in their cooperative efforts to provide relevant vocational-technical training for Filipinos.
Manila Bulletin
