May 11, 2022

Taguig City – Repatriated Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) due to COVID-19 pandemic continue to receive skills training from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).   

It can be recalled that in his 2020 State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Rodrigo Duterte has instructed TESDA to come up with special training to retool the OFWs, so they could find more opportunities here and abroad.

Being one of the top priorities of the agency, TESDA Secretary Isidro Lapeña, in 2020, launched the “TESDA Abot Lahat ang OFWs,” the agency’s banner program which focuses on the upskilling and retooling of OFWs and their dependents.

One of the beneficiaries, Hindon Usman, a former OFW from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, shared that she started her journey at TESDA when her sister introduced to her the TMBMF (Taha M. Basman Memorial Islamic Foundation, Inc) or known as the TAHA Foundation.

The TAHA Foundation is a partner of the TESDA Women’s Center (TWC), one of the TESDA training centers in Taguig City. Usman enrolled Electrical Installation Maintenance (EIM) NC II at TWC last January and finished the course in March.

Usman said that she enrolled EIM NC II just to learn how to fix their electrical wirings at home. She said that she had a hard time during the training but she pursued it to prove that women can do jobs traditionally done by men.

“Nakakatuwa isipin na napatunayan ko na kahit sino kaya ‘tong gawin regardless sa kung ano man ang sekswalidad o kasarian nila,” she said adding that she will soon find a job locally or in abroad where she can apply what she had learned during the training.

Usman also urged Filipinos, particularly those repatriated OFWs to avail TESDA trainings adding that having a National Certificate is an advantage especially in applying work abroad.

“Huwag [kang] mag-doubt na mag-enroll sa mga panlalaking course. Mas maganda yung takot mo harapin mo. Enjoyin mo lang ang napili mong kurso at go ka lang nang go,” she added.

Meanwhile, data showed that in 2021, TESDA has trained 27,452 OFWs and their dependents, of which, 10,341 were already certified as skilled workers.

The top courses among the OFWs and their dependents in 2021 were Entrepreneurship, Bread and Pastry Production NC II, Driving NC II, Domestic Work NC II, and Caretaker II.

“We, in TESDA, always try to be more responsive to the needs of our kababayans. In the case of our repatriated OFWs, we make our services more accessible and we train them to be equipped enough for new jobs or livelihood so they can continue to provide for their families even after they lost their jobs overseas," Lapeña said. ###

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