‘Check with Tesda first’

Joel Villanueva INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–Filipinos wanting to work abroad must check—and double check—the legitimacy of any technical-vocational training centers they may enroll at.

Tech-voc schools and training centers have to officially register with the government’s Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda).

“Tesda regularly updates its website, www.tesda.gov.ph, to reflect the list of schools and institutions authorized to operate,” Tesda Director General Joel Villanueva said.

Recently, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) closed RRR International Training Center Inc. in San Fernando City, Pampanga, which was not on the Tesda’s registry of authorized tech-voc schools and training centers, Villanueva said.

POEA Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac said training centers had no authority to recruit workers for abroad and advised job seekers to go to the nearest Tesda office or call their hotline 8877777 if they had misgivings about a training center.–Dona Z. Pazzibugan