Director General Danilo P. Cruz, the new head of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), took his oath of office Wednesday, July 20.
In a Facebook post, TESDA said Cruz took his oath before Department of Labor and Employment Secretary Bienvenido E. Laguesma at the DOLE Central Office in Intramuros, Manila.
He took his oath on the same day that Malacañang announced his appointment.
Meanwhile, TESDA said it is open to the new administration’s plan to revisit the country’s education curriculum in order to further enhance workforce job readiness, competitiveness and relevance.
The agency said it has actively engaged industry partners in developing the content of training regulations for our workers and tech-voc trainers to ensure further that what is being taught in tech-voc institutions are the exact skills needed by the industry.
According to Deputy Director General for TESD Operations Aniceto D. Bertiz III, in order to address this skills-job mismatch, TESDA has been implementing enterprise-based training (EBT) programs through its “EBT to the Max” promotion campaign.
“These enable our trainees to receive instruction in two venues: the institution for their theoretical subjects and in-company to apply what they had learned and to be familiar with tools and equipment commonly used in industry,” he said in a statement.
The graduates of “EBT to the Max” programs, Bertiz pointed out, have consistently reported higher employment rates than most other tech-voc programs.
“We need more of the country’s industries to participate and implement training through EBT to the Max. This will give our tech-voc trainees the edge needed to remain competitive and graduate from their courses with job-ready skills,” he added.
TESDA has also recently started implementing its area-based and demand-driven technical vocational education training (TVET) policy reform enables the Agency and the country’s TVET sector to better zoom in and focus on the skills needed by the industries and employers in a specific area or locality. The policy induces more industry participation in the provision of tech-voc training and keeps TESDA informed of workforce development needs.
Bertiz also pointed out that TESDA recognizes that rapid advances in technology introduced by the 4th Industrial Revolution will also trigger mismatches as more workers and graduates may not have updated knowledge and skills.
He said TESDA has been incorporating 21st Century Skills into its training regulations and curriculum. These skills include critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication, information literacy, media literacy, and technology literacy, among others.