Group hits TESDA certification of trash collectors

MANILA, Philippines - A non-government organization slammed yesterday the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority’s (TESDA) move to certify garbage collectors in the country.

TESDA recently introduced training regulations on courses on Garbage Collection NC I and Sanitary Landfill Operations NC III, Kharlo Manano of the Salinlahi Alliance for Children’s Concerns said.

He said the program would only burden garbage collectors since enrolling courses in TESDA is not free.

He said the training could be implemented by local government units as part of their capacity-building program for the employees responsible for solid waste management.

Manano said TESDA is just using the rhetoric of “dignifying, professionalizing and certifying garbage collectors” to conceal the government’s failure to provide better jobs to Filipinos.

TESDA director general Joel Villanueva earlier said they want to make garbage collecting a “dignified job” and make it a “full-fledged occupation.”

With the proper training, Villanueva said garbage collectors would learn the proper and safe handling and disposal of wastes, which would help ease the impact of garbage on the environment.

Manano said TESDA should “create a more significant program that will not only capacitate people but would also open new opportunities. I believe our garbage collectors have other skills aside from waste picking.”

Manano also accused TESDA, the Commission on Higher Education, and the Department of Education, of “conniving on a grand scheme” of making education a privilege to only a few.

He said through the K to 12 program, the government is limiting the career options of the poor majority to technical and vocational courses and boosting the creation of a “cheap” labor force for the global market.