Accenture partners with Tesda for free online learning program

Accenture recently launched the Accenture Skills to Succeed Academy to help build the soft skills and confidence of Filipino jobseekers aged 16 to 24 with the help of Tesda, Foundation for Information Technology Education and Development Inc., Philippine Business for Education, Philippine Business for Social Progress, and Bayan Academy. Shown in photo are Elmer Talavera, Executive Director, National Institute for Technical Education and Skills Development; Nescel Asuncion, Managing Director of Accenture Advanced Technology Centers in the Philippines; Maria Susan Dela Rama, Executive Director, Certification Office and Project Manager for eTESDA; and Lito Tayag, Accenture Country Managing Director for the Philippines and Corporate Citizenship Lead for the ASEAN region.
contributed photo

Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has teamed up with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) and several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to launch the Skills to Succeed Academy, a free online learning program for jobseekers in the Philippines.

Part of Accenture’s continuing commitment to build the future talent in the Philippines through digital upskilling, the Accenture Skills to Succeed Academy offers free online learning courses on soft skills and confidence-building to help young Filipinos gain the skills needed to get a job.

The rollout of Skills to Succeed Academy in the Philippines is the result of a collaboration between Accenture, Tesda, Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), Philippine Business for Education (PBEd), Foundation for Information Technology Education and Development, Inc. (FIT-ED), and Bayan Academy for Social Entrepreneurship and Human Resource Development (Bayan Academy).

The launch comes at a time when the National Economic and Development Authority has highlighted the need for workers to improve their employability skills.

For the estimated 1.2 million applicants from the graduate pool this year, improving their foundational skills to get work and be workforce-ready will be critical as they face stiff competition in the local job market.

Designed and developed by Accenture for jobseekers aged 16 to 24, the Skills to Succeed Academy uses technology to reach more people and make the training more interactive for participants.

The training program consists of three courses and 36 interactive learning modules, which cover basic steps in making informed career decisions and securing and maintaining a job.

Jobseekers will have the option to take the modules either via self-study or within facilitator-led study groups through a blended curriculum of online and offline materials.

The three courses are the following:

“You and Your Career” – The six modules in this course help participants choose a career based on their interests, skills, motivation and style;

“Getting a Job” – The 20 “Getting a Job” modules help participants develop the main skills required to secure a job, such as how to create and tailor their resumes, make a good first impression, and prepare for and succeeding in interviews; and,

“Success in Work” – The 10 modules in this course help the jobseeker sustain a job and develop a career, covering aspects such as keeping motivated in work, setting goals, how to behave in work and how to manage your career.

“The Skills to Succeed Academy is part of our continuing commitment to building and upskilling Filipino talent through a technology-enabled employment readiness tool that is focused on the soft skills – an equally important set of attributes around work ethic, attitude as a team player and communications skills,” said Lito Tayag, Accenture’s country managing director for the Philippines and Corporate Citizenship Lead for the ASEAN region.

“This complements the technical abilities of our young jobseekers. Accenture is privileged to be closely working with our partners from Tesda, FIT-ED, PBEd, PBSP and Bayan Academy, who share the same goal of reaching and helping Filipinos find employment or start a business.”

Under the collaboration agreement, Tesda will focus on identifying Academy participants through its e-TESDA and In-Center Trainings, while the NGOs and Accenture will support the implementation of the online learning courses.

The Academy (www.s2sacademy.ph) aims to reach and engage thousands of young jobseekers through different learning technologies, gaming techniques, role-based simulations, videos, quizzes and other interactive exercises.

“We are delighted to collaborate with Accenture, PBSP, PBEd, FIT-ED, and Bayan Academy on the Skills to Succeed Academy which aims to help Filipino jobseekers enhance their employability skills,” said Tesda director general Guiling Mamondiong.

“This online learning initiative demonstrates the importance of collaboration between the private and public sectors in making education and training accessible to more Filipinos,” he added.

The Skills to Succeed Academy is part of Skills to Succeed (S2S), Accenture’s global initiative to advance employment and entrepreneurship opportunities worldwide by providing people with the right capabilities to help them get a job or build a business.

By the end of 2017, Accenture had equipped 2.2 million people with these skills — well on the way to its goal of equipping 3 million people by 2020.