P-Noy allots P1 billion for TESDA scholarships

MANILA, Philippines - More Filipinos can enjoy free skills training and become highly employable as President Aquino allocated P1 billion for the Technical Skills Development Authority (TESDA) scholarship program.

Newly appointed TESDA chief Joel Villanueva announced that President Aquino has opted to keep the P1 billion budget for the agency’s scholarship program next year.

Villanueva noted that the new administration initially thought of cutting down the budget for TESDA’s scholarship program to P650 million before he assumed the position last week.

“They considered slashing the scholarship program budget by P350 million allegedly because of the low 20 percent absorption rate of those who underwent TESDA skills training,” Villanueva said.

But Villanueva said Mr. Aquino’s expressed the belief that technical education and skills development should not suffer just because of the things that happened in the past.

Shortly after assumption to office, Villanueva ordered an overhaul of the agency’s school accreditation and scholarship program amid reports of “ghost scholars” and fly-by-night schools that may have dipped their hands into the P5.6 billion in Tesda scholarship funds in the past two years. Government reports state that Tesda spent some P5.6 billion to sustain the scholarships from 2008 to 2009.

Villanueva has also ordered the agency’s legal department to look into the reported P1 billion scholarship debt from various education institutions and training centers. He added TESDA would review the system to determine reasons behind the low absorption rate and to come out with new measures to address the problem.

Recruitment industry seeks more training for in demand jobs

The local recruitment industry has urged TESDA chief Joel Villanueva to undertake more skills training to enable Filipino workers to capture more jobs abroad.

Jackson Gan, Federated Association of Manpower Exporters, Inc. (FEDMANEX) vice president for marketing, said TESDA must initiate training courses for jobs that are highly in demand in Middle East and other labor-importing countries.

Gan cited the growing vacancies for bulldozer and heavy equipment operators and other construction workers that the country is unable to fill in due to lack of skilled workers.

He then suggested a possible agreement between TESDA and the recruitment industry for the implementation of a training program that would allow immediate deployment of newly trained workers.

TESDA could also provide free training to International English Language Testing System (IELTS) examinees who would eventually work in the US, United Kingdom, Australia and Canada. IELTS is a mandatory requirement for those entering the four countries.

Gan said there are about 20,000 IELTS examinees each year and the training costs the applicants between P10,000 to P20,000 for a few weeks training.

Meanwhile, a group of Lebanese businessmen reported that thousands of jobs await Filipino workers abroad, if only the Philippine government would immediately lift the deployment ban.

Filipino-Lebanese Friendship Community president Abdul Kader Al Jadid said the Philippine government must lift the deployment ban to enable Filipino workers to work in Lebanon.

Lebanon continues to experience rapid growth in the tourism industry and still needs thousands of Filipinos in the hotel and construction industries, Al Jadid said.

He said Lebanese companies prefer OFWs for their ability to speak English and their renowned brand of service and hospitality.

Despite the ban, Filipino workers continue to sneak into Lebanon until this time.