TESDA sets November 20 launch of Ladderized Education Program

To help poor but deserving students continue schooling and find jobs easily once they graduate, the Technical Education Skills and Development Authority will officially launch the Ladderized Education Program on November 20 at the Cebu Coliseum.

Dubbed as "Career Caravan," the activity will orient the public about the program. Scholarships will also be distributed to students during the event where TESDA director general Augusto Syjuco is expected to attend.

There would also be free career guidance counseling through the youth profiling for starting careers; onsite competency assessment; onsite assessment for PGMA's training-for-work scholarships; information and guidance about TESDA's other projects and giving away of books on Career Guidance in Ladderized Education.

In an interview with PIA, the TESDA director said, they are expecting more than 1000 participants from various schools and universities in Cebu to join the "Career Caravan" on November 20, where TESDA's Ladderized Education Program will be fully discussed via a press conference with director general Syjuco himself.

LEP is part of President Arroyo's program to provide education to poor but deserving students to study and find jobs immediately.

In her visit to Cebu recently, Arroyo revealed that Syjuco had asked her if she could provide additional funding for the program. In return, Arroyo asked the Department of Budget and Management to allocate additional funding for the program so many could benefit.

TESDA-7 regional director Urbano Budtan said Ladderized Education simply means the consolidation or harmonization of all education and training mechanisms that allow students and workers to progress between and among vocational technological courses, college programs and job platforms, starting with Technical-Vocational courses that are creditable for a college degree. A student may start with Tech-Voc modules, and thereafter will require much less college courses to earn a college diploma.

"By the time you graduate, your accumulated work experience gives you valuable competitive advantage over those who completed their degrees with the traditional, uninterrupted span of four years," Budtan added.

He explained that the LEP was contained in Executive Order 358, a component of the MTPDP-that prioritizes the creation of 6-10 million jobs and expansion of youth opportunities. TESDA and CHED are commissioned to "establish equivalency pathways and access ramps for the ladderized system allowing for easier transitions and progression between the Tech-Voc education and training to higher education.

Under Arroyo's Ladderized Education System, 38,000 scholarships are available initially in eight disciplines in 79 schools, colleges and universities in the country. The scholarships are offered under the following courses: BS Nursing and other Health-related courses; BS Tourism/BS Hotel & Restaurant management/BS Travel management and other related courses; BS Mechanical Engineering and other engineering degree or technology courses; Bachelor in Agriculture Technology and other Agricultural courses; Bachelor in Technician Teacher Education; BS Information Technology/ BS Computer Science and other IT-related courses; BS Marine Engineering/BS Marine Transport; and BS Criminology.

At present, only one school-Don Bosco Technology Center is offering LEP in Cebu. Five other schools in different provinces of the region are offering the program.

Other colleges and universities that are TESDA-accredited for the LEP are Western Leyte College in Ormoc City, Central Visayas State College of Agriculture, Forestry & Technology in Bilar, Bohol, Negros Oriental State University in Dumaguete City, and Siquijor State College, and Negros Maritime College Foundation in Sibulan Negros Oriental. - Wenna A. Berondo