Cash for Training reaches Pampanga

04 March 2013

The Cash for Training (C4TP) program of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) expanded its reach with the selection of beneficiaries from Pampanga.

TESDA will mobilize its own technology institutes and partner technical vocational schools to bring skills training to a total of 1,022 out-of-school and underprivileged youths from various towns in the province.  For this, DSWD will allot P20.44 million.

Secretary Joel Villanueva, TESDA director general, was at the launching of the program on Monday (March 4) at the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center in San Fernando City, together with Pampanga Governor Lilia Pineda and other local officials.

"We are giving training opportunities to our youth to enable them to get employed either as wage earners or as self-employed individuals," Villanueva said.

"Employability is the end goal of every training course of TESDA," he added.

Crucial after finishing the course is for every graduate to undergo assessment to check if he or she possesses the required skills. TESDA awards a National Certificate (NC) or Certificate of Competency (CoC) to all passers of the assessment. The NC or CoC is a guarantee that the graduates are qualified to be employed.

The C4TP is designed to offer beneficiaries two tracks to choose from: one is for wage employment, and the other is for self-employment.  Those who choose to be self employed and create their own business after graduation will receive a tool kit to help them start up. This is in addition to the free training, free assessment and training allowance that are given to them while on training

Pampanga is one of the seven provinces in the Central Luzon Region (Region 3) that will receive funding under the C4TP. The region will be alloted a total of P93.9 million to carry out the skills training of 4,695 individuals.

Aside from Pampanga, Aurora province will get P6 million for 300 beneficiaries; Bataan will get P6 million for 330 beneficiaries; Bulacan, P19 million for 950 individuals; Nueva Ecija, P22.8 million for 1,140 individuals; Tarlac, P11.96 million for 598 individuals; and, Zambales, P7.1 million for 355 individuals.

Farming and fishing are the two main industries in Pampanga. Major products include corn, rice, sugar cane and tilapia, according to its website.  In addition, cottage industries also thrive in the province such as wood carving, food processing, furniture making, guitar making and handicrafts.

The municipality of Sto. Tomas in the province also boasts of a manufacturing plant of multi-purpose vehicle.

"Amid this backdrop, skills training sound very apt. We want to tap people who are good with their hands, very mechanical and good problem solvers, they can look at something and produce things out of it," Villanueva said.