TESDA, PCA target to produce 4.4 million highly skilled construction workers

August 19, 2022

The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and the Philippine Constructors Association (PCA) are eyeing to produce 4.4 million highly skilled workers in the construction sector for the next eight years.

TESDA Director General Danilo P. Cruz said TESDA has been intensifying its training delivery on construction-related courses to make the country’s construction workers more competitive in both the local and overseas labor markets.

“We are grateful that we have our partners in the PCA. Through our partnership with them, we can ensure that what we teach in TESDA construction-related courses are at par with international standards,” he said.

Last Aug. 4, Director General Cruz and Deputy Director General for TESD Operations Aniceto D. Bertiz III met with PCA President Wilfredo Decena and other officials to discuss the latter’s ongoing programs and projects.

PCA also signified their support to TESDA and the agency's initiatives to further develop the human resources of the country’s construction industry.  It has a long-standing partnership with TESDA in strengthening the construction sector of the country.

These initiatives are well in line with the targets set in the Construction Industry Roadmap 2020-2030, which PCA plans to achieve along with other construction industry associations and related government agencies.

In 2018, TESDA and PCA partnered to train some 2,000 construction supervisors under the Training for Work Scholarship Program (TWSP) to support the previous administration’s "Build, Build, Build" projects.

In June 2022, TESDA and PCA signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) establishing PCA as the National Industry Board for the construction sector.

DG Cruz pointed out that TESDA has been partnering with the private sector in pursuit of a more area-based and demand-driven technical vocational education and training (TVET).

“We continue to tie up with the industry to guarantee that tech-voc graduates have exactly the skills and knowledge that are required by employers,” he said.

Apart from PCA, TESDA has an outstanding partnership with 28 Recognized Industry Boards (RIBs) across the country, especially in hospitality, information and communications, agriculture, manufacturing, and others. ###