TESDA to help workforce affected by Boracay rehab

April 15, 2018

The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) in Region 6  is all set to help workers and residents who will be affected by the rehabilitation of Boracay Island in Aklan starting April 26.

TESDA Director General Guiling “Gene” A. Mamondiong also ordered officials and employees of TESDA Provincial Office in Aklan to create a contingency plan which will assist the 73,522 affected residents, including 17,326 registered employees and 11,000 unregistered workers of Boracay Island.

Joel M. Villagracia, TESDA Provincial Director of Aklan, said that TESDA will offer free skills training to the affected workers and residents.

For the first program, TESDA will offer skills training under the Training for Work Scholarship Program (TWSP) such as agri-business, information technology-business process management (IT-BPM), semiconductors, and electronics, he said.

Under the Special Training for Employment Program (STEP), the agency will offer manicure, pedicure,  sewing, massage therapy and bread-making.

"We will do an inventory of the available qualifications for the affected people so that we will know the number of available slots. For the month of April until June, we hope to train some 2,000 applicants,” Villagracia said.

TESDA officials are inviting interested applicants to enlist for the program at the Boracay Holiday (in Boracay Island), Malay mainland and at the TESDA office in Kalibo.

After they have enlisted, TESDA will profile the list of applicants so that they will determine the type of program for them and avail of the National Certification (NC).

Under the Action Plan Save Boracay, the first round of  training will start on April 26 and will end on June 30, 2018

Last April 14, the agency started its information campaign for its free skills training program.

For the second round of training, the agency said that the enrollment will start on June 15, 2018. Its classes will begin on July 1 and will wrap up on Sept. 30.

Villagracia said that the students will be given an allowance and tool kits.

President Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte has ordered the closure of the famous tourist island for six months to give way to the major cleanup after it was found to have violated water, waste management and land use regulations.

Villagracia said that government agencies which coordinated with TESDA for the implementation of the action plan were Department of Interior and Local Government, Department of Trade, Philippine National Police, local government units of Malay, Technical-Vocational Institutions (TVIs) and Association TVET Schools in Aklan (ATSA).