TESDA, DSWD partner for sustainable livelihood program

June 01, 2023

The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) are set to improve the lives of Filipinos particularly those in the marginalized sector.

Last May 26, TESDA Director General Danilo P. Cruz and DSWD Secretary Rexlon Gatchalian signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for a sustainable livelihood program to provide capacity-building interventions to its beneficiaries.

Under the agreement, TESDA and DSWD commit to providing skills training, livelihood programs, and complementary support program services for the socio-economic upliftment of the lives of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) and non-4Ps beneficiaries.

Specifically, TESDA shall allot scholarship slots for the beneficiaries and conduct skills training and assessment of the identified 4Ps and non-4Ps beneficiaries.

For its part, DSWD shall assess the skills needed by the beneficiaries, and assess and endorse them for skills training and micro-enterprise development.

DG Cruz said that TESDA is one with the DSWD and other government agencies, as well as the private sector to help raise the standard of living of Filipinos, especially those in the marginalized sector, by providing them with appropriate skills training and livelihood programs.

“Rest assured that we will render our utmost support and commitment to ensure the attainment of the goals of this project,” DG Cruz said, noting that the partnership is in line with one of TESDA’s two-pronged strategies of Social Equity for Workforce Inclusion and Poverty Reduction.

TESDA and DSWD have a long-standing partnership. In 2021, TESDA Region III, DSWD Region III, and SM Supermalls agreed to provide employment for the 4Ps beneficiaries in Central Luzon.

Likewise, in January this year, TESDA and DSWD, as part of their Gender and Development (GAD) initiatives, partnered to train women in Eastern Visayas on skills that are considered fit only for men.

Meanwhile, also present during the MOA signing at the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City were Deputy Directors General Aniceto Bertiz III and Vidal Villanueva III, and other officials of the DSWD.