The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) welcomed on Tuesday a lawmaker’s push for stronger job placement support for its graduates.
Party-list Rep. Menchie Bernos, in a statement, said the government must prioritize helping TESDA graduates secure jobs as soon as they complete their training.
“We are happy that with TESDA’s increased budget, more and more Filipinos have access to its various programs. But now we have to look even farther and focus on helping them find jobs right after graduation,” she said.
In an interview with the Philippine News Agency, TESDA Secretary Jose Francisco Benitez said technical vocational (tech-voc) training has been proven effective in ensuring the employability of the workers, and that TESDA training truly prepares the graduates for employment.
Based on TESDA’s latest Study on the Employment of TVET (technical and vocational education and training) graduates, the national employment rate for tech-voc graduates in the country is 83.34 percent.
“We have seen before that TESDA graduates, with or without National Certificates (NCs), are indeed employable — backed by the skills that they have earned during their training,” Benitez said.
The TESDA chief said it is not unusual for TESDA graduates to get hired even if they did not pass the competency assessment.
“But of course it’s better if they have the NC, because they could also use it to apply for promotion or other jobs,” he said.
TESDA requires its scholars to undergo the mandatory national competency assessment upon completion of training.
Benitez stressed that TESDA authorities “are always on our toes to ensure that the training we provide always remains modern and relevant to the needs of the industry.”
“In the same way that President (Ferdinand R.) Marcos (Jr.) has enlisted TESDA, alongside DepEd (Department of Education) and CHED (Commission on Higher Education), to fix the foundations of the education sector, we are confident that the administration’s plans for employment, spearheaded by DOLE (Department of Labor and Employment) Secretary Francis Tolentino, will answer the Filipinos’ need,” he continued.
TESDA has secured a PHP26 billion budget for this year, and PHP19 billion is allocated for scholarships.
Benitez clarified that 600,000 scholarship slots were given out this year.
According to TESDA Public Information Division Executive Director Floramel Joy Songsong, employers in the construction and health sectors may require an NC for safety compliance.
She added that overseas employment also requires the NC for visa processing, and skipping assessments may limit salary potential and future scholarship eligibility. (PNA)
