INDUSTRIES are growing and tourism is up, which could translate to job and entrepreneurial opportunities, according to Director General Joel Villanueva of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda).
There’s a missing element, though, for the youth to have a crack at employment — skills.
A series of activities in Cebu and Mandaue cities that included skills demonstration, a fun run and link-up with the private sector showed that Tesda was going full blast in making technical vocational (tech-voc) education accessible and available to the future workforce, Villanueva said.
“For 2015, Cebu gets a funding of P75.78 million for the education of 7,375 scholars. This represents 51 percent of the total budget of P149.12 million for the entire region targeting close to 15,000 scholars,” Villanueva said.
“Education underpins all economic development. It’s the tool of the most ambitious governments in these technological times,” Villanueva added.
The Tesda chief noted the feat achieved by two Cebuanos — Ingrid Ponce and Myrna Pitaluna — after they graduated from their respective courses.
For lack of money, Ponce could not go to college and thus, enrolled in a tech-voc course that few women engage in — shielded metal arc welding and gas metal arc welding. Finding her niche in this trade, Ponce landed a job in Japan, which changed the life of her family.
Pitaluna of Toledo City also completed training in shielded metal arc welding and added heavy equipment operation to her skills. She took additional training to be a certified assessor and trainer. She was awarded as Idol ng Tesda in 2013.
The March 5 event in Cebu was carried out through the Training Trabaho Program, which intensified its tech-voc education campaign to bring in more people to avail of Tesda’s programs.
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