Close to 20,000 finish TESDA course in 1st quarter

21 May 2011

A total of 19,893 students have completed courses at various training institutes of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) in the first quarter of the year, an indication of the growing relevance of technical and vocational education among the Filipinos.

A month before the opening of classes, TESDA Director General Joel Villanueva urged students to consider technical and vocational training as an option.

“It is the time of the year when students are at a crossroads on what college degree to pursue, and when parents work harder to earn enough to have the resources for their children’s schooling.  TESDA offers a better education alternative,” Villanueva said.

Students can enroll for free training from a variety of courses offered by the agency that will tap and hone their skills for their future career-development opportunities.

Technical and vocation training, Villanueva said, has offered a solution to the skills and job mismatch plaguing many graduates.

“We have many college graduates, but sometimes their diplomas offer little value for employment, because what companies and employers need more are the skilled workers,” he added.

TESDA has a total of 125 training institutes (TTI) all over the country and targets to have at least 1,000 graduates for each TTI or a total of 125,000 graduates per year.

This is apart from its scholars under the Training for Work Scholarship Program (TWSP) and those scholarships funded by the private sector, Villanueva said.

“In all, we aim to have at least one million graduates this year,” Villanueva said.

TESDA was allotted P700 million budget for 2011, down from the P5.6 billion given to the agency in 2009 during the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Many of the TTI graduates for the first quarter came from Region II with 2,224, followed by Region IX with 2,009 and Region V with 1,978.

Region I had 1,765 graduates, Region VII (1,673), Region IV-A (1,605), Region VI (1,592), Cordillera Autonomous Region (1,348),  Region III (1,223), National Capital Region (980), Region VIII (838), CARAGA (791), Region X (695), Region XI (644), Region IV-B (392), Region XII (74), and ARMM (62).