Senator Joel Villanueva had asked the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) to involve the private sector in its training efforts to increase its enrollment rate.

Villanueva issued the appeal as he recalled finding out during a recent budget hearing that the agency only has 12,393 students enrolled in its technical-vocational education and training (TVET) program. This is only five percent of the TESDA's 349,000 target for the program, he said.

During last week’s hearing on the agency’s P13.7-billion proposed 2021 budget in the Senate, TESDA Director General Isidro Lapeña said they expect the numbers to go up once the COVID-19 situation improves and the community quarantines are lifted.

Villanueva, who headed the TESDA, said he has received letters from private technical and vocational institutions (TVI) that have called for “genuine public-private partnership” with the TESDA.

"I’m sure we want to maximize our TESDA training institutions. However, it is a fact that overwhelmingly, ang laki pa rin ng private sector (the private sector is bigger) and it is important that we partner with them," said the senator, who chairs the Senate Committee on Higher, Technical, and Vocational Education.

According to Lapeña, 86 percent of the TVET is being offered by private TVIs while 24 percent is being offered by TESDA training institutions (TTIs).

"’Yung scholars po natin ang nalalagay sa alanganin kapag hindi natin ito agad mabigyan ng solusyon. Sana po mapag-usapan ninyo ang mungkahing ito upang makapagtulungan kayo na maiabot sa ating mga scholars ang training na inaasahan nila, lalo na po ngayong may pandemya at marami ang nawalan ng kabuhayan (Our scholars are the ones put at a disadvantage if we do not solve this right away. I hope that you discuss this and work with the private sector to extend to our scholars the training they need, especially amid the pandemic and many have lost their jobs)," Villanueva told Lapeña.

He also advised TESDA to strategize on the disbursement of its budget and look into its capacity to reach its targets. Senators had earlier questioned the agency's unspent 2019 and 2020 funds for training worth at least P687 million.

He noted that the TESDA also has a P1-billion additional funding from the recently-signed Bayanihan to Recover as One Law to provide scholarships for both local workers and overseas Filipino workers who have been displaced by the pandemic. 

Lapeña assured the senators that the absorptive capacity of public and private TVET institutions is sufficient to implement the mandate of Bayanihan 2 

The P1 billion funding is seen to benefit 41,667 scholars, he said.