The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) renewed its commitment to upskilling and reskilling Filipinos as part of improving the technical vocational education and training (TVET) system in the country.
(Photo courtesy of TESDA/Manila Bulletin file photo)
In a statement on Wednesday, July 26, TESDA said that will allow Filipinos to be adaptive to the changing demand of the industries.
TESDA Secretary Suharto T. Mangudadatu said that the agency is implementing programs for upskilling and reskilling of Filipino workers, and strengthening the country’s technical vocational education and training (TVET) system as part of his 10-point Agenda for the agency.
TESDA stated that it shall prioritize the implementation of the TESDA sa Barangay, which is a massive skills training program for the communities at the local level, targeting the poor and the marginalized. It is purposely designed to catalyze the creation of livelihood enterprises that shall be implemented by the trainees, immediately after the training.
“We are modernizing our TVET system through the provision of upgraded, accessible, and labor market-responsive technical vocational training programs and skills certification standards. We are also setting up more training institutions, including innovation centers, that are central to the modernization of TVET systems,” Mangudadatu said.
“Further, we are closely involved in the continuous development and implementation of the Philippine Qualifications Framework (PQF) as well as the Philippine Skills Framework (PSF), both of which help enhance the value and comparability of Philippine education and training qualifications, and support the mobility of Filipino students and workers,” he added.
During the second State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr., he mentioned the contributions of TESDA and TVET in implementing his administration’s programs to prepare more Filipinos for work.
“TVET continues to prove itself to be an empowering educational intervention. There are many examples of how its graduates have gone on to secure competitive technical jobs. Since last year, more than a million Filipinos graduated from TVET, one-third of whom were TESDA scholars,” Marcos said in his SONA.
From July 2022 to May 2023, TESDA said that it has tallied 1,135,783 TVET graduates in all training delivery modes – institution-based training, enterprise-based training, and community-based training.
Meanwhile, President Marcos Jr. also mentioned various government programs to help poor Filipinos which includes one of TESDA’s strategic thrusts, “Social Equity for Workforce Inclusion and Poverty Reduction”.
For the past year, TESDA has strengthened policy and program coordination and continues to intensify the implementation of existing quality-assured TVET delivery, assessment, and certification programs.
TESDA has also been establishing innovation centers that aim to upgrade TVET with technology research and entrepreneurship development towards the making of 4.0-ready graduates and also address the retooling and upskilling of workers affected by technology advancement. Currently, there are four innovation centers nationwide located in Isabela, Cebu, Northern Samar, and Zamboanga Sibugay.
On the other hand, Mngudadatu expressed his gratitude to TESDA employees for their continuous service to the Filipino people.
“Our President showed great appreciation and strong support for our organization and the work that we do. With this, let us focus more on meeting the President’s goals, especially towards the upskilling and reskilling of workers, improving the curriculum, and providing better services for our kababayans,” the TESDA chief said.