TESDA offers scholarship grants to children of military retirees

Good news for children of retired military officers.

The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority is giving free training for direct descendants of veterans and retirees of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

TESDA director general Augusto Syjuco said he had set aside P1 million from the PGMA Training for Work Scholarship (PGMA-TWSP) program for the free training program.

Syjuco said the amount will benefit children and grandchildren of veterans and retirees of the AFP who will be provided grants. According to Syjuco, scholars can train in highly in-demand skills and courses under the TESDA’s ladderized education program.

“We are happy to offer the PGMA-TWSP to the children and grandchildren of our soldiers and veterans who have sacrificed much for our freedom. With the training grants, they could learn in-demand skills and quickly get jobs after the training,” Syjuco said.

In a memorandum of agreement signed by Syjuco and the World War II Heritage Organization (WWHO) chairman, lawyer Eduardo Pilapil, said a sizable amount was set aside by TESDA for the scholarship. WWHO is a national association of such dependants.

Under the agreement, WWHO will recruit qualified scholars to train for free in TESDA schools and accredited training institutions. The association has been tasked to make sure that the scholars passed TESDA’s skills assessment to enable them to get a job immediately after the training.

Syjuco said the program is part of “TESDA’s expanded and strengthened effort encouraging young Filipinos to enroll in technical-vocational courses and learn skills demanded by the local and global employment market.” – Mayen Jaymalin and Sheila Crisostomo