Tesda can only train 4,000 Boracay workers until island reopens

Tourists visit the beach on Boracay Island, Aklan province, on April 6, 2018. The Philippine tourism industry scrambled on April 6 to manage the fallout from the temporary shutdown of its world-famous Boracay island, which threw into chaos trips planned by hundreds of thousands of tourists. (Photo by ERNESTO CRUZ / AFP)

Of the around 28,000 workers who would be affected by the six-month closure of Boracay next week, only 4,000 can trained by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) to help them get by until the island reopens.

Those who would be part of the training would be given allowances and tool kits, according to Tesda Director General Guiling Mamondiong.

Tesda’s Aklan office can only offer free skills training to two batches of 2,000 workers while Boracay is closed off to tourists for rehabilitation, he said.

The number of trainees is limited because the training of each batch lasts for three months.

Currently, Tesda is profiling affected workers to help determine what courses they could take – such as massage therapy, breadmaking, agribusiness or information technology-business process management.

Under Tesda’s “Action Plan Save Boracay,” the first round of training will start on April 26, when closure of the island begins. Training for the second batch will start on June 15. /atm