The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) said it is planning to add five more foreign language courses to "advance the competitive edge of Filipino workers."
"TESDA is eyeing more language-related courses to add up to the already-existing courses under its National Skills Language Center (NLSC)," said TESDA Officer-in-Charge Deputy Director General Rosanna Urdaneta in a statement on Saturday, July 9.
The planned additional language courses are Arabic, Mandarin, Korean, Italian, and French, said TESDA Deputy Director General for Operations Aniceto Bertiz III.
Urdaneta said they will coordinate with "foreign embassies and other interested international organizations" for the implementation of this initiative.
“TESDA will continue to implement and improve its programs and services designed to improve the language skills of Filipino workers here and abroad in line with the new Marcos administration’s priority agenda,” said Bertiz.
Currently, TESDA’s NLSC offers English Proficiency for Customer Service Workers, Japanese Language and Culture, Japanese Language and Culture Level II, and Spanish Language for Different Vocations.
“In 2021, the NLSC has produced 1,148 graduates, of whom 508 students finished English Proficiency for Customer Service Workers; 450 in Japanese Language and Culture; and 190 in Spanish Language for Different Vocations,” the agency said.
“Among the TESDA language course graduates were uniformed personnel of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), employees of the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), and overseas Filipino workers,” it added.