Pinoy TVET

One of the most common strategies implemented by legislators in their respective constituency areas to address unemployment and underemployment is the allocation of certain amounts from their pork barrel funds (officially called Priority Development Assistance Fund or PDAF) for TVET scholarships. This is one of the most common constituency programs of legislators for several reasons. First, scholarships are perceived by the public as "clean" programs, meaning, they are not usually associated with cases of graft and corruption; second, it has long-term and multiplier effect; and third, it has direct and personal impact on the constituents or their loved ones.  However, if these scholarship funds are not directed towards employment, their implementation can have the opposite effect, and can damage the reputation of the concerned elected official or his party more than build it. "Clean" Program One of the difficulties for congressmen and senators in implementing

As countries that used to rely on expatriates for their technical manpower needs begin to nationalize their labor force, some of them are strengthening their partnerships with the Philippines along training of their trainers.  Recently, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has trained 338 of its TVET trainers through its partnership with the government.  This year, according to the report, 10 more Saudi nationals will be trained (via the MFI Foundation, Inc., formerly the Meralco Foundation) to conduct training in qualifications such as automotive servicing, electronic ignition system, electronic fuel injection, troubleshooting automotive engine systems and automatic transmission systems.  Previously, trainers in qualifications such as food processing, multi-media, computer networks, video production, photography, refrigeration and air-conditioning repair were trained under the program. ("Saudi Tech-Voc Experts

TESDA Director General Sec. Joel Villanueva recently announced during a forum with technical-vocational institutions that his agency is now working with the Department of Education and Commission on Higher Education to "harmonize" basic education and tertiary courses with technical-vocational education and training (TVET). ( Philippine Information Agency , September 20, 2011) The primary reason for this seems to be to enable graduates or even dropouts of basic education (mainly, high school) and bachelor courses to get employable skills (provided by TVET) even if they move out of the system before they finish schooling.  In this arrangement, TVET is inserted in basic and higher education as a sort of parachute that the student can open in case he needs to jettison out his course for one reason or another. Philippine education cohort estimates indicate that for every 100 pupils who enroll in elementary, only 66 graduate and of this 66, only 58 are able to enroll in high sch

Technical Education and Skills Development (TESDA) Director-General Sec. Joel Villanueva recently encouraged private institutions to help improve the quality of TVET education in the Philippines by helping police their own ranks to ensure that only qualified institutions which could help in the development of technical education and skills development are in the playing field.  ( Philippine Information Agency , September 20, 2011) This is a bold statement and is an indication of a bold--and needed--direction for technical education and skills development of the country. Actually, the development of self-regulating TVET bodies, including that of TVET institutions, has been one of the goals TESDA has been aiming for for sometime now but couldn't pursue fully due to structural hurdles it still need to overcome.  Its charter, Republic Act 7796, seems to assume a strong presence of association of technical-vocational institutions when it  provides that the TESDA Board--the highest

Ever since the establishment of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority or TESDA, private sector participation and investment in technical vocational education and training (TVET) has been encouraged.  The thinking is that, since the private sector is the major provider and end-user of TVET, it should invest more in TVET. However, it should be pointed out that private sector investment already comprises the majority of investment in TVET.  In 2002, for example, about 54 percent of investment in TVET came from the private sector.  It is however, interesting to note that more than half of this (around 53 percent or $58 million) came from the trainees themselves who paid for their training.  Meanwhile, companies invested $32 million (around 30 percent of the private sector investment) and non-government organizations or NGOs invested $14 million (around 13 percent). (" Investment in Technical Vocational Education and Training in the Philippines ," p. 66; publ

The Philippine government has been integrating some sort of technical-vocational skills in basic education.  For many years now, parts of competencies found in the current Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (or TESDA) training regulations of courses such as crop production, horticulture, tailoring, carpentry and commercial cooking have been included in elementary and high school subjects one way or another.  Recently though, the Department of Education has decided to fully insert whole qualifications for National Certificate Level I (for most qualifications) and National Certificate Level II (for a few) in the high school curriculum. (High school students will be submitted to TESDA competency assessments after finishing the qualifications.) In fact, more than half a billion pesos has been allocated for continuing the implementation of this program during the next several years. ( Philippine Daily Inquirer , September 9, 2011) Agri-Fishery Sector as Priority Budge

Local government units (LGUs) remain among the most valuable implementers of technical-vocational education and training (TVET) program in the Philippines.  In 2002, around a third of public expenditures on TVET (or around PhP1.56 billion) came from local government units. (" Investment in the Technical Vocational Education and Training in the Philippines ," p. 67; published by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization and the International Institute of Educational Planning)  Most TVET training conducted by LGUs are short-term courses (ranging from a few hours to several months) and are often along well-known qualifications or occupations such as automotive mechanic, welding and electrical installation and maintenance.  TVET courses funded but not directly conducted by LGUs are often along courses whose trainer, equipment and/or supplies requirement are beyond local government budgets such as advanced welding and heavy equipment operation or servici

The apprenticeship program is one of the means private companies use to generate skilled workers for their specific needs despite mismatches between their requirements and the skills possessed by job applicants.  A training modality under what are classified as enterprise-based training (others include learnership and on-the-job training), trainees learn by observing and learning from experienced skilled workers inside the company.  Technical Education and Skills Development Authority director-general Sec. Joel Villanueva recently encouraged private firms to step up their participation in the apprenticeship program as a means of getting workers because "the best place to acquire skills is in the workplace".  ( Manila Bulletin , September 3, 2011) Considering apprenticeship as a generator of skilled workers involves several things for the firm.  The following are some of them: Are the competencies and skills needed by the firm not available in the present pool of unemplo

Competency assessment is the mechanism being used by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority or TESDA to determine whether a certain worker meets the minimum industry standard for a particular job (or more precisely, qualification) as indicated in the training regulations.  At first glance, it appears that competency assessment is nothing but the final hurdle every graduate of TVET or any practitioner of a blue-collar worker should pass in order to be regarded as a legitimate practitioner of a particular qualification.  (After passing it, a TVET graduate or skilled worker can apply for a national certificate or certificate of competency depending on the the competencies he passed during the assessment.  These certificates then can be used to vouch for the skills of the person.) Competency assessment, however, has inherent complexities that TVET graduates and blue-collar workers have to deal with. First, most companies in the Philippines at present do not really req

Buying training is often like buying a new house: you get something valuable but you live with the consequences for a long time.  Despite this, many people enroll in TVET courses without proper perspective.  Part of the blame goes to the individual trainee himself, to common perceptions of TVET, to how schools market their courses and indeed how the TVET sector sees itself in relation to the labor market. The Person Himself Many trainees of TVET enroll in TVET as a last recourse (perhaps because they did not pass the college entrance test or perhaps because they do not have the money to enroll in bachelor's degree courses) and thus think little about whether the course fits their aptitudes and interests; whether there is demand for the graduates of that course during the next several years (and thus ensure that they have consistent career paths); whether their physical conditions are suited for the rigors of the job that will result from the course; and whether the career path

Advocacy and promotion is one of the constant programs of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).  Through the years, and through many directors general, it has tried to project an image to the public through purchase of media block times, information caravans, industry-government organization partnerships, distribution of literature intended for the masses and similar activities.  In all these, there seems to be basic questions in the public's mind it tried and continues to try to answer.  Among them: Is TESDA training?  Even before TESDA became TESDA (that is, before National Manpower and Youth Council, Department of Education's Bureau of Technical Vocational Education (BTVE), and the Department of Labor and Employment's Apprenticeship programs were fused under one authority through Republic Act 7796), the most prominent body for technical training was, well, equivalent to training in the public's mind.  And rightly so.  Complex NMYC

As another very strong typhoon leaves the Philippine area of responsibility (16 dead, PhP21.3 million damages to roads, bridges and irrigation facilities in Cagayan alone; Philippine Daily Inquirer , August 29, 2011), local government units and various government agencies are scrambling to put into place activities that are intended to help the affected provinces get back to their feet.  In most cases, the immediate concerns include the restoration of road networks, electricity, water facilities and communication lines.  After these however, the concerns will begin to move on to helping the local economy recover from the damages to crops, loss of properties and paralysis of business activities. To help them do this, local government units can implement quick response programs which, in essence,are economic recovery packages that involves various government agencies and partner private and non-government organizations.  For local government units that have already tried implementing t

Due to the present chaos in the Middle East thousands of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are expected to return home. While many of these workers will go back to the oil-rich region once the situation stabilizes, they may not return to the same job or company they used to work for.  Others might try to apply for work in other more stable countries such as Canada or Australia, especially if they have already acquired the necessary work experience required by these countries. Many others, of course, will return home simply to wait for the situation to settle down and return to the same company. This means that, whether these workers realize it or not, they will need to have training while they are in the Philippines. The training that returning OFWs will need could be one or a combination of two or more of the following: Training in qualifications related to what they already have. For example, a welder who had extensive experience in oil and gas might want to get some training in

With the effects of the financial crisis taking its toll among businesses not only in international economic centers but also here in the Philippines, more and more would be entrepreneurs and existing business people are thinking of putting up businesses that are mainly based on the Internet. Internet-based business is cheaper to put up (mainly, you only spend for a domain name and server space, in contrast to spending for rental of a physical space or constructing your own building), doesn't need to be closed and opened everyday (it is always open once you upload your website on a server); and doesn't need to have sales assistants, store clerks and similar personnel. A major gap in TVET courses now in the Philippines, especially those dealing with entrepreneurship, is the minimal attention given to competencies that one needs to put up an online business.  Partly because of this, most Philippine companies that thrive online are also big mortar-and-glass companies that have

The technical-vocational education and training sector plays a key role in developing the economy of the Philippines.  Prior to the creation of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), concerns for middle-level skills were handled by the Department of Education through its Bureau of Technical Vocational Education.  However, studies commissioned by the government recommended the tri-focalization of education to enable the government to address skills mismatch in the labor market.  The result is the concentration of the Department of Education in basic education, TESDA in technical-vocational education and training or TVET and the Commission on Higher Education in well, higher education (that is, degree courses and post-graduate studies). The primary role of TESDA is to manage the TVET sector (that is, the aggregate of suppliers and stakeholders of TVET) and make it relevant, effective and efficient.  As manager of TVET, TESDA likes to describe itself as