05 September 2011
A total of 622,831 individuals have been certified as specialists by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) in just one year under its new administration.
The new specialists came from the 740,673 persons who took the assessment from TESDA-accredited centers nationwide from July 2010 to July 2011equivalent to a certification rate of 84 percent.
TESDA Director General Joel Villanueva disclosed that from July to December 2010, a total of 311,174 received the certification, while from January to July 2011, a total of 311,657 became new specialists.
This brings the number of registered certified workers also known as “TESDA Specialistas” to more than 2.5 million from 2005 to May 2011, said Villanueva, who assumed office in August 2010.
The assessment and certification program is offered to TESDA scholars and non-TESDA graduates such as workers, students, returning overseas Filipino worker and their dependents.
It aims to gauge a person's skills and qualifications after a technical vocational training course to improve his chances of finding job in the country or abroad.
“TESDA has stepped up its assessment and certification activities to guarantee that tech-voc graduates and those with sufficient work experience and knowledge are duly certified for the skills, knowledge and positive work values they possess,” Villanueva said.
“The certification has become more valuable because a number of companies now look for it as a requirement for hiring,” he said.
TESDA conducted this year the first synchronized National TVET (Technical Vocational Education and Training) Competency and Assessment Certification in identified key qualifications with significant industry demand.
In 2009, the certification rate was 82.62 percent (690,836 certified out of 863,131 assessed).
For the entire year of 2010, TESDA registered a certification rate of 82.98 percent (594,323 certified out of 716,220 assessed).
In terms of scholarships, TESDA gave a total of 45,860 scholarships under the Training for Work Scholarship Program (TWSP) and the Private Education Student Fund Assistance (PESFA) for the second half of 2010.
The new administration under Villanueva also made its feat in its first year in terms of partnerships with private institutions and industry giants, and stronger linkages with government agencies.
These tie-ups have resulted in more training in a variety of specializations, better access to scholarships and increased opportunities for employment for TVET graduates.
Among the agreements forged since June 2010 were with the Business Processing Association of the Philippines, JobStreet.com, Coca Cola Bottlers Inc., Genesis Transport Services Inc, United Nations Population Fund, and some government agencies.
"These partnership agreements manifest the increasing industry respect, recognition and value of TESDA under the present administration,” Villanueva said.
“These program arrangements also build closer collaboration with the industry, the local government units and other concerned organizations,” he added.
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