‘21st Century Skills:’ Courses offered for the quarantined

Nearly 20,000 people have signed up to learn new skills through the free online training courses offered by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda), according to one of the top officials providing updates on the Philippine response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, spokesperson for the Inter-Agency Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases, urged the public to try any of the online courses as a productive way to spend the monthlong Luzon lockdown.

68 courses

Nograles noted that between March 16 and March 29, a total of 19,598 enrollees signed up with Tesda, which is running a total of 68 training courses online.

“Among the top sectors being picked by the enrollees are: electrical and electronics, tourism, entrepreneurship, information and communications technology, and 21st Century Skills,” Nograles said in an online press briefing on Friday.

The “Skills” mainly cover two subjects—“environmental literacy” and “workplace communication”—according to the Tesda website.

The free online courses may be accessed through www.e-tesda.gov.ph, or the Tesda App on Google Play and Apple Store, he said.

“After undergoing online activities and passing the quizzes, learners may download certificates of completion as proof that they finished the online course,” Nograles said.

Mask production

Tesda’s regional and provincial training centers, along with other training centers across, continue to produce washable face masks for medical workers in hospitals and barangay health centers.

Nograles said 57,000 face masks had been produced and donated to medical personnel, as well as to law enforcers manning checkpoints, government employees and media workers.

Tesda training centers and its partners in the private sector are also producing do-it-yourself (DIY) face shields for medical front-liners.

Nograles said 266 DIY face shields had been distributed in Luzon, 809 in the Visayas and 250 in Mindanao.

“Some Tesda regional offices are also starting to make protective suits, disinfectants and sanitizers, while others have been continuously baking bread and pastries, and distributing them to our front-liners,” he said.