07 August 2011
The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) has partnered with a heavyweight vocational institution in Japan to impart their expertise on technical vocational education to its neighboring countries.
TESDA and the Japan Vocational Ability Development Association (JAVADA) signed a memorandum of agreement to provide technical assistance to eight government and business sector representatives from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV).
With funding from the Japan Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare , TESDA and JAVADA jointly conducted the ASEAN-Japan Collaboration Program on Human Resource Development (HRD) focused on "Skills Promotion in an Enterprise-base Set-up," held on August 1-3, 2011..
"The Philippines is fast gaining recognition for its technical vocational training because of the relevance of our curriculum and more importantly because of the quality of the graduates we produce," TESDA Director General Joel Villanueva said.
"We hope we can continue to be a good model for our ASEAN neighbors, which are enhancing their own tech voc institutions as an alternative to formal education," he said.
With the spiralling cost of college education, the tech voc education offered by TESDA has become a better option, a choice many students have taken to hone their skills for future jobs.
TESDA regularly conducts a review of the courses offered by both the public and private technical vocational institutions to improve their quality and make them more responsive to the needs of industries, to end the mismatch between the available skills and openings in the job market.
The three-day HRD event showcased the linkages between the academe and the industries and highlighted the high regard industries accorded to technical vocational education as a major factor in increasing the competitiveness and productivity of their workers.
The participants went on site visits of the DM Consunji Inc., Pilipinas Hino and Uratex Corporation, all leaders in their respective industries and which are known to employ tech-voc graduates.
The collaboration between TESDA and JAVADA is in response to the framework of “2003 ASEAN-Japan Plan of Action” and the “ASEAN +3 Labour Minister Meeting” in Penang, Malaysia in 2010.
In 2006, TESDA hosted the ASEAN-Japan Collaboration Program in HRD for the CLMV countries which focused on curriculum and learning materials development.
JAVADA has a long experience in executing and managing national skills testing and certification as well as in proposing policies to encourage Japanese labor to strengthen the competencies of their workers.
TESDA on its part has made significant contributions in producing quality graduates by requiring them to undergo assessment and certification by the agency. At present, there are already a number of companies which require applicants to undergo TESDA certification prior to hiring them for employment.
"We will continue to work closely with our ASEAN neighbors by sharing best practices in technical vocational education. We hope that through this, we can strengthen our human resources, our best capital for development," Villanueva said.
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