In the interest of the service and in line with the TESDA Reform and Development Agenda, these guidelines shall be observed in awarding the scholarship grants under the Private Education Student Financial Assistance (PESFA).
These guidelines shall cover the implementation of the PhP200 Million Private Education Student Financial Assistance (PESFA) under the 2017 General Appropriations Act (GAA).
The PESFA Program has been established through Section 8 of Republic Act No. 8545, otherwise known as the Expanded Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (GASTPE) Act. The program aims to extend financial assistance to marginalized but deserving students in technical-vocational education and training (TVET) courses and to assist private institutions in their development efforts by assuring a steady supply of enrollees to their course offerings.
For 2017, PESFA shall be implemented in two (2) modalities and shall be governed by these guidelines. One modality is the implementation of bundled qualifications specifically to support the Manufacturing Resurgence Program (MRP) objectives and to support rapid, inclusive and sustained economic growth through course offerings in priority industries and key employment generator.
The objective of the MRP is to rebuild the existing capacity of industries, strengthen new ones and maintain the competitiveness of industries with comparative advantage. The availability of competent and productive labor, trained to industry standards, supports the competitiveness of Philippine manufacturing industry.
The second modality is the regular PESFA implementation of single or one (1) qualification basis.
I. General Policies
- To prepare the target beneficiaries for higher employability, the training programs to be offered under PESFA bundled qualifications shall be directed towards producing graduates for the manufacturing sector in broader categories;
- The Regional / Provincial Offices which cannot fully utilize their PESFA funding allocation through the bundled programs may continue to implement the regular single or one (1) qualification PESFA program.
- The bundled programs covered under PESFA shall be governed by the provisions of TESDA Circular No. 07 s. 2016, Amended Omnibus Guidelines on Program Registration under UTPRAS.
- Other bundled qualifications maybe applied subject to evaluation of the National Institute of TESD and the approval of the Director General;
- Competency assessment shall be mandatory for every qualification with assessment tools;
- There shall be no containment policy. In the event that there is no available training provider that can offer the program, the region may refer/tap another region in the conduct of the training program. The payment to the TVET provider located in another region shall remain to be the responsibility of the region where the PESFA funds are allocated. Further, the accomplishment or the training output shall be accounted to the region that made the payment/disbursement.
- Qualifications supportive to new and emerging industries shall be identified and recommended by the Regional Offices or industry bodies to be approved by the Director General;
- The monitoring and audit of PESFA implementation shall be the responsibility of the region which implemented the program.
II. Qualification Beneficiaries
The target beneficiaries of the PESFA shall have the following qualifications:
- Must have completed at least 10 years of basic education;
- A Filipino Citizen of at least fifteen (15) years old at the start of the training;
- Have an annual family income of not more than P300,000.00.
III. Documentary Requirements
The scholar shall submit the following documentary requirements:
- Copy of Report Card or Certificate from the previous school where the applicant has completed his/her 10 years of basic education;
- Annual Income Tax Return or Certificate of Compensation Payment/Tax Withheld for the previous year or Certificate of Exemption from Payment of Income Tax Return issued by Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) or Certificate of Indigency issued by the City/Municipal Mayor or City/Municipal Social Welfare and Development Officer (C/MSWDO) or Barangay Captain.
IV. Eligibility Requirements for the TVIs
- Copy of Report Card or Certificate from the previous school where the applicant has completed his/her 10 years of basic education;
- 1. Program is compliant based on the Technical Audit;
- 2. Must have absorptive training capacity in terms of facilities, tools and equipment and trainers;
- 3. Must not be a subject of any unsettled Notice of Disallowance (ND) that has become final and executory involving any scholarship program of TESDA;
- 4. Must have attained at least 50% Employment Rate (refers to the employment rate of all graduates in a particular qualification previously granted and being applied for. The report on employment rate shall be applicable only for the PESFA programs that have been completed at least six (6) months to one (1) year prior to the new application under the PESFA in the same qualification. An electronic copy of the MIS-03-02 report, which includes the employment status, shall be submitted to the SMO-CLGUS); and
- 5. Must have attained at least 80% Utilization Rate (Refers to the enrollment report against the approved slots of the scholarship previously granted for a particular qualification previously granted and being applied for). This definition shall be applicable to all TVIs.
- TVIs without Previous Scholarship Allocation
- 1. Program is compliant based on the Technical Audit;
- 2. Must have absorptive training capacity in terms of facilities, tools and equipment and trainers; and
- 3. Newly registered TVIs in lieu of the technical audit report, shall submit the UTPRAS inspection report conducted by the TESDA Provincial Office.
V. Modes of Availing PESFA Scholarship
- 1. Barangay Listing of Prospective Beneficiaries
- Every Barangay Chairman or his/her designated representative shall submit the list of potential beneficiaries for skills training from the accomplished Barangay Skills Need Survey (BSNS) Form 1 to the TESDA Regional/Provincial Office. The submitted list is expected to be inclusive and non-limiting in number, indicating the skills training needed by the prospective beneficiaries.
- 2. Online Scholarship Application
- Any qualified interested person can apply for scholarship program through Online Scholarship Application (www.tesda.gov.ph/Barangay) available at the Regional or Provincial websites.
- 3. Walk-in Application
- Any interested person who desires to avail of the scholarship programs may apply either at the TESDA Central Office, Regional Office, Provincial Offices or to the TVIs with regard to the processing of his scholarship application. For this mode of availing scholarship, the Private TVIs may recruit qualified potential beneficiaries provided however that the list of qualified beneficiaries will be reported to the Provincial Office for verification, approval and encoding in TESDA T2-MIS.
VI. Scholarship Benefits:
- TPESFA scholars shall be entitled to free training cost, student allowance, book allowance and assessment fee.
Student Allowance of P60.00 per day multiplied by the actual number of days for the training program for bundled program. For non—bundled, one qualification only, the nominal duration multiplied by P60.00 per day shall be used in determining the student allowance; and
Book Allowance of P2,000.00 for the whole training program (for bundled program) and P500.00 for non-bundled program (for one qualification). - The PESFA standard costing for the training cost, student allowance, assessment fee and book allowance for the bundled programs is indicated in Annex A – Schedule of Cost per Bundled Qualifications.
- For non-bundled programs, the standard costing for the training cost, student allowance, assessment fee and book allowance is provided in Annex B – Schedule of Cost by Qualification.
- Entrepreneurship shall be integrated in the training and shall be at the instance of the TVI.
VII. PESFA Budget Allocation
- The 2017 PESFA budget allocation is based on the annual Php200 Million budget for PESFA which is incorporated already in the regional budget as provided in the FY 2017 General Appropriations Act (GAA). Its distribution is based on the Government Secondary School Number of Completers/Promotees/Graduates - SY 2012-2013 sourced from DepEd’s Enhanced Basic Education Information System as of March 14, 2014 and the 2012 Estimated Poverty Incidence data in the respective areas from the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB).
- The budgetary allocation by region as reflected in Annex C is adopted for the implementation of 2017 PESFA.
- At least five percent (5%) of the allocation per region shall be set aside for persons with disability (PWDs) pursuing technical-vocational courses in compliance with Section 13 of Republic Act No. 7277 of the Magna Carta for Persons with Disability, Solo Parents and their Children (RA 8972). Other clientele groups such as the Indigenous People, Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), families of migrant workers, among others, shall also be given priority. All these beneficiaries shall meet the minimum qualification requirements for PESFA.
VIII. Approval of Qualification Map (QM)
- The TVIs with registered programs shall submit Qualification Maps (QMs) using Form 01 to the Provincial Offices (POs) with training costs based on the identified qualifications in Annexes A and B;
- The POs shall evaluate the submitted QMs based on the Eligibility Requirements for TVIs using Form 01. Likewise, the POs concerned shall notify the TVIs for the compliance of any lacking requirements. The same shall be forwarded to the Regional Offices (ROs) for evaluation;
- After the evaluation, the ROs shall recommend and forward the Forms (01 and 02) to the Scholarships Management Office-Communities and Local Government Unit Services (SMO-CLGUS);
- The SMO-CLGUS shall evaluate and endorse the same to the ODDG-CLGUS for its recommendation and submission to the Director General/Secretary for his approval;
- Approved QMs shall be forwarded to SMO-CLGUS for the issuance of PESFA Scholarship Grant certificates to the ROs;
- The ROs shall ensure that the beneficiaries shall come from the three (3) modes of availing scholarship under Section V of this circular;
- The ROs shall release the scholarship grants certificates to the POs based on the approved QMs; and
- The TVIs shall conduct the training program only after receipt of the scholarship grants certificates from the POs.
IX. Administrative and Financial Procedures
- 1. All budgetary and financial concerns for scholarships shall continue to be observed and complied with, subject to the usual government and auditing rules and regulations;
- 2. Payment of Book Allowance/Student Allowance
- Books and student allowance shall be paid directly to the scholars or authorized representatives armed with the proper Special Power of Attorney through any of the following modes of payment:
- a. Issuance of checks directly to the scholars;
- b. Advice to Debit Account (ADA); or
- c. Cash payment through the Designated Disbursing Officer.
- The peculiarities of the area must be taken into consideration in choosing the mode and the schedule of payment for book and student allowances.
- 3. Payment of training fees to the TVIs shall be made upon submission of the following required supporting documents:
- a. Billing statement;
- b. MIS 03-02 (Training, Assessment, Certification and Employment Report) duly signed by the TVIs authorized signatories;
- c. Daily Attendance Sheet (for the duration of the training) duly signed by the trainer; and
- d. TESDA copy of the PESFA Scholarship Grants duly signed by the concerned officials.
- 4. Payment of training fees to the TVIs shall be made upon submission of the following required supporting documents:
- a. Billing statement;
- b. Admission Slip
- c. Copy of the Attendance Sheet; and
- d. Certified True Copy of the RWAC.
X. Monitoring and Evaluation
- 1. The existing monitoring and reporting requirements of the SMO-CLGUS and Corporate Monitoring System shall be observed. Regular and timely submission of accurate data consistent with the MIS 03-02 shall be submitted every 3rd day of the following month.
XI. Sanctions
- The following acts shall be grounds for the perpetual disqualification of the TVI from participating in PESFA and suspension or revocation of the Certificate of TVET Program Registration (CTPR) subject to due process of law:
- Ghost training;
- Exaction of unauthorized fees from the graduates; and
- Falsification, forgery or misrepresentation in the submission by the TVI of the required reports to TESDA.
This Circular takes effect as indicated and shall supersede any issuance inconsistent herewith.
GUILING “GENE” A. MAMONDIONG
Director General/Secretary
DOWNLOADABLES
Forms
