MANILA, Philippines—The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) will award more than P17 million in scholarships to at least 2,000 participants of its Training for Work Scholarship Program (TWSP).
Joel Villanueva INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
To provide the technical training to develop highly skilled industrial workers, Tesda has teamed up with the Makati Development Corp. (MDC), the Philippine Society of Plumbing Engineers Inc. (PSPE) and the Philippine Society of Ventilating, Air-conditioning and Refrigerating Engineers Inc. (PSVARE).
A total of P17.480 million in scholarship vouchers will be given out for the training series from July to December, covering 2,110 workers and those about to join the workforce needing preemployment drilling and retooling training in the construction, plumbing as well as ventilation and refrigeration industries.
Through the separate memorandums of agreement (MOA) signed by Tesda with the three industry organizations, the agency aims to fill job vacancies which require specific skills and enhance the quality of the industrial workforce.
“The support for skills development of our partner industries will be used to upgrade the quality of the workforce,” said Tesda Director General Joel Villanueva, adding that education and training must keep pace with the changing needs of the labor market to enable graduates to be more productive and gainfully employed.
Villanueva pointed out that the partnership with the three associations intends to address an important concern in the employment market, which is finding workers with the required skills for industrial jobs.
“We will continue to work with high-growth sectors to develop training programs to help entry level workers and existing workers advance their ranks,” he said.
Under the MOAs, Tesda will set aside P8.130 million from the TWSP for the MDC which will handle construction training; P5.450 million for the PSPE to handle plumbing courses, and P3.9 million for the PSVARE, which will train scholars in air-conditioning, ventilation and refrigeration.
The MDC will train 1,060 scholars through courses in carpentry, electrical installation and maintenance, masonry, reinforcing steel works, shield metal arc welding, heavy equipment operation, scaffold construction and training methodology. Jeannette I. Andrade
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