04 October 2011
A total of 238,219 graduates have been employed from January to August this year after finishing courses offered by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).
TESDA is the sole government agency mandated to implement technical vocational education and training (TVET) in the country.
By the end of the year, TESDA Director General Joel Villanueva said he hopes to catch up with the target of 504,335 employed TVET graduates.
"Getting people into technical vocational education and training is one thing, making them graduate is another. But the ultimate target is to get them employed and make them productive members of the work force so they can fend for themselves and their families," Villanueva said.
TESDA training is implemented through its network of technology training institutes and regional and provincial training centers and a big majority of public and private technical vocational institutions situated nationwide.
TVET graduates either get employed in companies, or start their own business ventures or join their families in running the business.
With their new skills, graduates no matter what age group, can reinvent themselves and start a satisfying and sustainable career.
For the entire year, TESDA targets an enrollment of a total of 1,568,617 students in all delivery modes and various qualifications or courses.
Of this number, Villanueva said they hope that 1,344,371 or 86 percent of students will be able to finish their courses.
Up until end of August this year, a total of 939,147 have been enrolled in various TESDA courses nationwide, of which 739,067 have graduated.
Villanueva explains that not all graduates actively look for job after finishing vocation studies. Some of them await better employment opportunities either in the country or abroad, and some pursue further studies.
Assessment and certification continue to be popular among TVET graduates as gleaned from the steady rise of graduates, workers, returning overseas Filipino workers and their families who avail of them.
From January to August 31 this year, a total of 549,995 persons underwent the assessment, 454,749 of whom got certification from TESDA.
The certification serves as their seal of excellence for faster employment.
No less than President Benigno Aquino III looks up to technical vocational education and training as among the solutions that will pluck people out of idleness into productivity to help ease the country's unemployment woes.
Villanueva vows to fulfill this mandate by continuously improving TESDA's courses and services to make them relevant and attractive to the public, especially those in need of alternative education.
"As the economy shudders, many corporations turn to new skills sets to survive and we will make sure that TESDA is capable of producing the supply of qualified workers that the market needs," he added.
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