19 November 2014
They could be the next expert welders, hotel staff, auto-mechanics or chef.
Through skills training, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) wants the country's Indigenous Peoples (IPs) to be out of the fringes of society and seek better livelihood and employment opportunities.
On November 19 and 20, TESDA organized the International Conference for IPs of ASEAN in Manila to expand opportunities for human capital development for inclusive growth of this sector.
Technical vocational education and training (TVET) can pave the way for empowering the IPs and integrating them in economic development, according to TESDA Director General Joel Villanueva.
"In the rural areas, the IPs are more likely to work as agricultural laborers. In urban areas, some of them may engage in informal jobs that lack security of tenure, social benefits and health care," he said.
"Arming them with education, through TVET, will take them out of this situation and make them skilled and competitive," Villanueva added.
The TESDA chief said empowering vulnerable sectors like the IPs ahead of the integration of the ASEAN economies by 2015 will ensure that no one would be left behind.
"Free movement of goods, capital and services is happening now. In this scenario, investment in skilled labor will be one of our key advantages," Villanueva said.
The TESDA chief said the inclusivity of IPs in advancing human resources capacity must be a premier agenda.
As such, TVET is the fastest choice to employment, which will open opportunities for the IPs not only in the country, but abroad.
Discussions during the conference centered on TVET in preparation to ASEAN 2015 and access to education of IPs. There was also a presentation of the participating countries of their TVET program for IPs.
There are between 14 to 17 million indigenous peoples in the country, according to the United Nations Development Programme. They are mainly concentrated in Northern Luzon and Mindanao.
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