The  Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) has renewed its partnership with Samsung Electronics Corporation (SEPCO) to help the agency strengthen its training programs on electronics and information and communications technology (ICT). In a statement, TESDA said that this is part of its goal of ensuring the quality of its training programs, through forging partnerships with the private sector to further advance the Philippine tech-voc ecosystem. TESDA Director General Danilo P. Cruz and SEPCO President Min Su Chu led the ceremony. Their partnership includes the implementation of the Electronic Product Assembly and Servicing program to be delivered using the Dual Training System at the TESDA Women's Center (TWC). In his message, Cruz said that the agreement between TESDA and Samsung seeks to guarantee the availability of a pool of highly-skilled workers in the electronics and ICT industries. The TESDA chief shared that it will likewise promote the implementation of the Dual Training System (DTS) that combines center-based theoretical training and work-based practical training. “This partnership also focuses on the key area of women’s participation in non-traditional trades such as ICT and the electronics sectors through the TESDA Women’s Center, which highlights our shared goal to uplift the social status and welfare of women in society.” he furthered. It can be recalled that both parties first signed a Memorandum of Agreement last 2014 for the establishment of the TESDA-Samsung Training Facility for Consumer Electronics Program at the TWC. The partnership has so far produced 198 graduates of which 80% of them got employed. TESDA and Samsung also opened a similar training facility at the Jacobo Z. Gonzales Memorial School of Arts and Trades (JZGMSAT) in Biñan City, Laguna. Also present during the MOA signing were TESDA Deputy Directors General Aniceto Bertiz III and Vidal Villanueva III, and officials from Samsung Philippines.