May 31, 2018
The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) has called for the creation of the Association of South East Asia Nations (ASEAN) Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Development Council which will become the oversight and leading coordinating body for the TVET sector in the region.
TESDA Director General, Secretary Guiling “Gene” A. Mamondiong, who has been pushing for the creation of a regional council, explained that there is a need to make TVET initiatives and programs in the region more comprehensive to widen the skills-set and competence of the workforce among ASEAN members.
“As part of the internationalization of the Philippine TVET system, TESDA is echoing to the ASEAN the need to streamline and harmonize all TVET and workforce development efforts in the region, with a view of making inter-related initiatives more programmatic and comprehensive,” said Mamondiong.
At the 31st ASEAN Summit held in the Philippines last November 2017, the TESDA-led proposal is among the initiatives featured in the Chairman’s Statement.
Mamondiong said that the proposal would reinforce and unify the TVET in the region. It has already been presented to the ASEAN TVET Development Council at the Asia-Europe Education Ministers Meeting held in Seoul, South Korea in November 2017 and at the 4th ASEAN Qualifications Reference Framework Committee Meeting in Bangkok, Thailand in May 2018.
He also said that the primary goal of the coordinating body is to hasten and strengthen the regional convergence via the ASEAN Member States (AMS) of TVET and human resource development programs so that the workforce in the region will become more competitive and competent.
Once established, the council will help the AMS improve its TVET system, policies, and programs for the workforce to become quality-assured with future-proof skills, ready to compete, and productive through proper and close coordination with ASEAN TVET agencies.
The ASEAN TVET Development Council would help the ASEAN members in strengthening their technical-vocational program.
TESDA has already undertaken series of consultations with stakeholders such as the education and labor ministries for the ASEAN in Myanmar, Lao PDR, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam. The same proposal has been presented to different international and regional organizations through conferences and meetings.
Other issues tackled in the consultation/presentation meetings include partnership with other organizations, organizational structure representation in the council, funding sources, etc.
To ensure that all stakeholders in the government, private sector, and the workforce will take part in developing plans and programs for TVET, the council should be composed of representatives from education, labor and economic sectors of the government; ASEAN Business Advisory Council (BAC) and ASEAN Confederation of Employers (ACE) from the private sector; and ASEAN Trade Union Council (ATUC) and workers federation from the labor front.
TESDA will also undertake technical meeting or workshop which will be comprised of AMS, representatives from Senior Labor Officials Meeting (SLOM), Senior Officials Meeting on Education (SOM-ED) and Senior Economic Officials Meeting (SEOM), relevant stakeholders from industries and development organizations, and the ASEAN Secretariat.
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