23 April 2014
The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines hope to expand its ongoing program to cover more provinces, providing access to training and other resources to women sari-sari store owners and retailers.
For 2013-2014, the Sari-Sari Store Training and Access to Resources (STAR) program targets to double its covered sites to 22 provinces and cities, raising the total number of beneficiaries to 17,637.
The program, which gives training to select women retailers and sari-sari store owners to assist them in managing their business, is currently present in 11 sites and so far has a total of 7,986 graduates.
"Thousands of women enter the local economy every year, and they help reshape the world of business," Secretary Joel Villanueva, TESDA Director General, said.
"Whether as future employees or entrepreneurs, we want to equip women with skills that would make them succeed," he added.
Launched in 2012, the STAR program targets to empower 200,000 women sari-sari store owners and operators all over the country by 2020 through skills training focused on managing their business such as simple accounting and access to microfinance.
The training also includes Gender Sensitivity Training for the beneficiaries and focal persons involved in the program.
In the two years of its implementation, the program has taken a great leap forward with a number of activities making a positive impact in women's lives.
According to the accomplishment report submitted by the TESDA and Coke National Program Management Team (NPMT), training for the women beneficiaries and focal persons manning the program are ongoing.
In January this year, STAR focals attended a Gender Sensitivity Training and Database Management Training to orient them on a new system to be used to better monitor and assess the performance of the beneficiaries.
Last year, convergence partners of the program held a meeting to get inputs on the proposed amendments on the implementing guidelines. A planning-workshop was also held for regional and provincial directors together with the STAR focals.
International officials and Coke partners led by Coca-Cola International president Ahmet Bozer visited TESDA in October last year to observe the implementation of the program.
TESDA also partnered with microfinance institutions for the program. To date, there are three institutions helping provide assistance to the beneficiaries, namely, Alay sa Kaunlaran Inc. for Luzon; Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation Inc. for Palawan and the Visayas Region; and First Community Cooperative for Mindanao.
"As we venture to expand the STAR program, the solid partnership with microfinance institutions will help ensure the sustainability in the post-training component by making available the access to financing," Villanueva said.
"Women entrepreneurs need people willing to invest in them. When stakeholders such as Coke and TESDA embrace their potential, the whole society can benefit from them," he said.
The target areas and number of beneficiaries for 2013 to 2014 are the following:
TESDA Women's Center-Taguig City (500); Benguet (750); Pangasinan (1,000); Cagayan Valley (1,343); Bulacan (2,000); Pampanga (244); Tarlac (1,200); Nueva Ecija (1,000).
Batangas (500); Palawan (1,000); Mindoro Oriental (250); Mindoro Occidental (250); Albay (750); Iloilo (500); Aklan (500); Negros Occidental (1,000).
Bohol (500); Cebu (300); Misamis Oriental (1,250); Lanao del Norte (500); Bukidnon (1,000); and, Davao City (1,300).
Share this page
