TESDA-7, Capitol offers free skills training for jobless Cebuanos

Technical, skills students of Tesda work on a project at the Tesda facility in Lahug. (CDN FILE PHOTO)

MANDAUE CITY, Cebu – Cebuanos, who lost their jobs during the pandemic and the out-of-school-youth who never had the opportunity to find employment, can soon avail of the free livelihood skills training being offered by the Technical Education Skills Development Authority (TESDA) in partnership with the Cebu provincial government.

In a recent report, Sugbo News, the media arm of the provincial government, said the Capitol is planning to set aside P100 million to fund the conduct of these skills training.

The courses being offered by TESDA include organic agriculture, production, cookery, bread and pastry, housekeeping, bartending, electrical installation, maintenance, carpentry, tile setting, plumbing, and computer system servicing among others.

In an interview with Sugbo News, Floro Ringca, the TESDA-7 assistant regional director, said their “Special Training Employment Program” (STEP) aims to teach and enhance the different skills of individuals, who may have lost their jobs or those who never had the opportunity to apply for employment as a result of the pandemic, and prepare them for employment.

And just like the Sugbo Negosyo program, the allocation for the Capitol’s skills training program will be distributed through the  different Provincial Board members including the Office of Vice Governor Hilario Davide III.

These elected officials will be the ones to screen and choose the program beneficiaries, the Sugbo News report said.

Chosen beneficiaries, who will enrol with TESDA-7, are set to receive a P160 daily allowance during the duration of their training and another P500 for the purchase of face masks and face shields.

They will also be given P500 that they could spend on the purchase of load for their online training.

Ringca said that aside from providing their students with the needed skills, they will also giving them entrepreneurship training to help them run their own business.

And apart from the issuance of NC II, all of their graduates will be provided with starter tool kits based on their chosen course.

“Pananglitan kon ang iyang kurso welding, so pag graduate sa bata, tagsa na sila og welding machine. And then kon bread and pastry, tagsa og oven toaster. And then aduna pa gyud ni siya’y accident insurance during sa training. So simbako ma-disgrasya ang bata aduna siya’y P100,000 nga insurance gikan sa GSIS (Government Service Insurance System),” he said.

(For example, those who chose welding will be given their own welding machine when they graduate.  Those who chose bread and pastry will be given an oven toaster.  And they will also be given accident insurance during the training.  In case of an accident, the trainees will get P100, 000 insurance coverage from GSIS.)

In a meeting with members of the Provincial School Board on August 26, Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia said she was prepared to spend millions on livelihood training programs that will surely benefit the Cebuanos.

Ringca said skills training will greatly help especially the Cebuanos who lost their jobs during the pandemic and those who were forced to stopped schooling as a result of poverty.

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/ dcb