Free tech-voc education bill now a law

MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte has signed into law a measure  that will extend free technical-vocational education to qualified recipients.

Duterte signed Republic Act 11230 or the “Tulong Trabaho Act” last on Feb. 22, a copy of which was shared to the media on Wednesday.

Aimed at addressing job-skills mismatch in the country, the new law creates the “Tulong-Trabaho Fund” which will provide qualified recipients access to tech-voc education and training under the programs identified by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda).

The fund would also be managed by Tesda.

Any person at least 15 years old who are not employed, not in education and not in training (NEET) are qualified to avail of the free tech-voc education.

Employed workers who intend to develop and expand their current skills and trainings are also covered by the law.

Workers in enterprise-based companies or industries currently trained by their employers, however, are not covered by the law.

The Tulong Trabaho Act also establishes the Philippine Labor Force Competencies Competitiveness Program to “strengthen the qualifications of the Filipino workforce to meet the challenges of the rapidly evolving workplaces and work structures.” /gsg