The United States Embassy in the Philippines has engaged at least 140 officials from the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), universities, and colleges for a four-day workshop on building an interdisciplinary approach to cyber education.

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Embassy Acting Public Affairs Officer Nina Lewis and CHED Commissioner Aldrin Darilag led the event by highlighting the significance of a collaborative and strengthened cybersecurity approach in higher education through the facilities of the US Embassy’s EducationUSA from July 27 to 31, 2021.

Commissioner Darilag said the virtual event is part of the US Embassy-CHED agreement signed in 2019 to hold a four-day workshop in new approaches to cyber education to help advance national cyber education. The multi-day webinar was conducted in partnership with the University of Cincinnati.

Experts from the University of Cincinnati discussed various topics during the four-day event, including cybersecurity administration, fundamentals of cybersecurity and information technology, cyber range operations and uses, and cybersecurity as a social science.

In addition to assisting and advising Filipinos interested in studying in the United States, EducationUSA Philippines fosters partnership between Philippine higher education institutions and accredited U.S. higher education institutions.

Meanwhile, a private sector initiative backed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) is facilitating the opening of more than 300 training slots for the youth in time for National Tech-Voc Day on August 25.

YouthWorks will offer Flexible Training for Work program to participants in technical-vocational and life skills training, mentoring, on-the-job training, and a training stipend from partner companies. Successful trainees then get a chance at full-time employment in partner companies.

USAID and PBEd signed partnerships with Solar Philippines, Katherine’s Cafe, and Virlanie Foundation. Solar Philippines—a leading solar power provider in the country—will provide 300 training slots for land survey associates in the provinces of Batangas and Quezon, and Katherine’s Café will offer 30 on-the-job training slots for food and beverage services trainees.

Virlanie Foundation will support the recruitment of trainees from their communities with a total trainee subsidy worth Php100,000 to cover the pre-employment requirements of trainees.

USAID Philippines Acting Mission Director Sean Callahan said the US government has committed more than P260 million over five years for this initiative while its partners in government, academia, and industry, led by PBEd, are also mobilizing resources to achieve their common goals.

“Our collaboration on work-based training is a strong statement of support for technical-vocational training as an important pathway for upskilling our youth so that they can have more and better employment opportunities,” he said.

For the past three years, USAID and PBEd have provided more than 11,000 slots for unemployed and out-of-school youth, and have given access to free training opportunities to almost 7,500 beneficiaries.