THE Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) and Catanduanes local government have joined forces to address the problem of “out-migration” in the province with today’s inauguration of two technical vocational training centers in Pandan and Viga municipalities. Tesda Director General Joel Villanueva led the opening of one of the two training centers, which now makes Bicol as the region with the most number of Tesda Training Institutes nationwide.
The Bicol Region now has a total of 13 TesdaTraining Institutions while Central Luzon and Central Visayas has 12 Tesda Training Institutions each.
“I was informed that the province of Catanduanes is an out-migration area. Meaning, people are going out to look for employment and other opportunities outside the province. This is understandable since the province is an island and no industries are being established here simply because of the danger of nature, particularly typhoons,” Villanueva said.
“But this will not deter us from planting ‘seeds of greatness’ through human development. The world is our labor market and we can produce world-class workers through quality technical-vocation education and training intervention,” he said.
The newlyopened training center in Viga is named PAVIBA Training Center. It was erected in a lot donated by the Solid Future Foundation Inc. under the chairmanship of architect Enrique Olonan.
Besides the residents of Viga, the people in the municipalities of Pandan and Bagamoc will also benefit from the two training centers, said the Tesda chief.
He said the construction of the training centers was made possible through the funding support of the office of House Minority leader and Rep. Edcel Lagman of Albay, apparently setting aside political lines. The training centers, however, will be under the management of Tesda.
The establishment of the training centers was also because of the concerted efforts of the office of Gov. Joseph Cua of Catanduanes, and the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, as well as local executives of municipalities of Pandan, Viga and Bagamoc.
Villanueva also cited Rep. Cesar Sarmiento of Catanduanes for possible future budgetary support to sustain the operation of the centers.
“Tesda cannot do it alone; we need partners and allies especially the participation of private sector to help us attain the vision we want to achieve for all Filipinos—a better quality of life for everyone, living in peace and harmony with our brother and sisters,” Villanueva told the audience at the inauguration of the PAVIBA Training Center in Viga muncipality.
“This project is a true symbol of partnership in action,” he added.
But Villanueva admitted that as the prime mover for the training of middle-level manpower, Tesda is faced with a great challenge “at this time and in the future with the rising number of young population, rising cost of education, and limited national budget.”
Thus, he said, the agency has to employ a strategic response to meet the evolving demands as well as meet the growth target that the Aquino administration has to achieve.
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