TekBok Buzz

August 26, 2010, 10:58am

TESDADA director-general Joel Villanueva (2nd from left), Ormoc Representative Lucy Torres-Gomez and husband Richard Gomez observe the work of a student during their visit at a training center.
TESDADA director-general Joel Villanueva (2nd from left), Ormoc Representative Lucy Torres-Gomez and husband Richard Gomez observe the work of a student during their visit at a training center.

TESDA celebrates its foundation anniversary in August but this year, Secretary Joel Villanueva, TESDA director general, says TESDA anniversaries under his watch will be austere yet meaningful celebrations.

For instance, outstanding tech-graduates are feted as “Idols ng TESDA” This award honors outstanding workers who have become role models of skills excellence and success in their chosen occupations.

TESDA’s outstanding partners in the provision of skills development services are also honored through the Kabalikat Award. This award is given in recognition of their contributions to skills development through training scholarships, establishment of training centers, provision of training supplies and materials, or donations of training equipment.

ACHIEVEMENTS

In 2009, TESDA provided 592,977 scholarships to displaced local workers and OFWs under the Pangulong Gloria Scholarships (PGS). Some 592,977 students and trainees also qualified as scholars under the Private Education and Student Financial Assistance (PESFA) program. A total of 158,855 high school students were profiled under the Youth Profiling for Starring Career (YP4SC) in 2009. A one-stop center on job referral and placement assistance was established in 672 blue-desks throughout the country.

TESDA also upgraded the skills and certified 10,335 tech-voc trainers and dispatched 2,896 trainees under the TESDA-JITCO Skills and Technology Transfer Project during the year.

An additional 5,264 tech-voc programs were registered in 4,041 public and private training providers nationwide. The registry of certified workers was up by 482,034 while the number of accredited assessors and assessment centers totaled to 2,665 and 1,676, respectively.

In skills assessment and certification, some 836,131 skilled workers and new graduates were assessed. Of this number 690,836 workers were certified.

Of the three training delivery modes, community-based training programs produced the highest number of graduates at 907,730, followed by institution-based training with 873,558 and enterprise-based training with 122,505 graduates.

EMPLOYED

The impact evaluation study conducted by TESDA showed that of the more than 200,000 graduates who responded in the survey, 55 percent were already employed. More than one-third (36%) got their jobs in less than a month and one-fourth (26%) were employed within one to three months after completing their courses.

This study also showed that graduates of technical vocational courses have higher chances of getting employment than college graduates.

The skills learned by vocational training graduates, according to TESDA, are very much in demand and are attuned to the needs of companies. The courses they have chosen were based on their occupational interests and aptitudes.

The biggest number of graduates were employed in the following business sectors: footwear and leathergoods; land transportation; processed food and beverages; business process outsourcing; heating, ventilation and air-conditioning; metals and engineering; construction and furniture and fixtures.

THE VALUE OF TECH-VOC

In the past, many Filipinos shy away from tech-voc courses, thinking that these are only for the poor and those with low mental ability. The reality now is that most of the successful workers and entrepreneurs have taken at least one or two tech-voc courses. Most of the job vacancies now, both in the domestic and overseas labor markets, require technical skills.

Enrollment in tech-voc courses has in fact increased over the years and has reached 1.98 million in 2009. Half of the enrollees were high school graduates while 13 percent were already college graduates. The rest were either college undergraduates (16 percent) or have previously taken other post-secondary tech-voc course (12 percent).