Commission on Audit (COA)

The Commission on Audit (COA) has flagged the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) over the late procurement, and undistributed and damaged toolkits intended for use by its scholars as they pursue their vocations after training.

Because of the continuous delays in the procurement of toolkits, COA said the TESDA could no longer locate the scholars who should have received and used the toolkits during their training.

It also said that there was an accumulation of undistributed toolkits in 13 regions consisting of 21,142 units with an aggregate value of P147,805,622.73 and 5,943 units with still undetermined cost.

In its 2022 audit report, COA said that delayed procurement of toolkits had been a problem of TESDA since 2018, and 2022 was no exception as bidding activities started in the last quarter of the year. The contracts were then awarded to the winning bidders only in February 2023, it said.

"The 2022 provision of starter toolkits was successfully awarded and contracted only in 2023, and are estimated to be delivered within 90 days from the date of notice to proceed (NTP), hence, delivery to Regional Offices (ROs) and District Offices are expected to commence in the second quarter up to the third quarter of 2023, and only then the distribution to the scholars start," it said.

COA also said that some 2021-funded toolkits were procured only in 2022 because these were subjected to rebidding. As a result, the toolkits were made available only after less than two years from the scheduled training of scholars.

"The delay in the procurement process is one of the major factors in the late distribution of toolkits which adversely affects the attainment of ultimate purpose of toolkits provision which is to promote employment through entrepreneurial, self-employment, and service-oriented activities after the training of the scholars," the COA report said.

There were also reported loss, damage, and deterioration of toolkits due to non-availability or inadequacy of storage and weak internal control in handling the inventory, it said. 

These issues lead to the improper utilization of the toolkits, which is not in accordance with its intended purpose, it also said.

Citing an example, the COA said that undistributed toolkits were donated to victims of the Marawi siege and victims of other calamities such as flood and typhoons. "But these remedies cannot cover up the actual wastage since it defeated the intended purpose of the program and likewise the purpose of the procurement," it said.

It pointed out that some delays were also caused by accommodated requests, such as the one made by an unnamed congressman who wanted to be present during the toolkit's distribution. 

"While we understand the reasons given the grants of the accommodation, the officer concerned should ensure that this will not cause delay in the distribution and that compliance with TESDA guidelines must be strictly observed," it stressed.

"These conditions only show that TESDA was not responsive enough to address the root cause of the problem and appears to be unmindful on the continuing effects to its scholarship program and the high probability of government wastage due to unutilized procurement," it added.

Thus, COA recommended that TESDA should consider deferring future procurement of toolkits until they have addressed the issues and consider other forms of training support other than the provision of starter toolkits.