TESDA orders closure of another techvoc school

MANILA, Philippines - The Technical Education and Skills and Development Authority (TESDA) has ordered the closure of another vocational school for operating without the necessary accreditation from the agency.

TESDA issued a “cease and desist to operate” order against D’ Way Skills Training Center in Quezon City following complaints from five students, who have enrolled for computer technician training.

In a complaint, the students said they were made to pay fees but were not provided with functioning computers. They also found out that the school was not registered with TESDA.

“Based on our records, D’ Way has not applied and was not issued the Certificate of Program Registration to offer vocational-technical training programs of TESDA, thus, we recommended to the Quezon City government to close down the school,” TESDA director general Joel Villanueva said.

Villanueva said the training school violated TESDA’s Circular No. 45 pertaining to the Omnibus Guidelines on Program Registration under the Unified TVET Program Registration and Accreditation System.

Aside from lacking TESDA accreditation, the school also committed other violations, including misdeclaration of area being used, employing six workers without occupational permits, and lacking fire safety inspection clearance, locational clearance and certificate of electrical inspection.

TESDA ordered D’ Way to give its students full refund of the fees they have paid to enroll in the said unregistered course and offered assistance to students affected by the order by transferring them to training centers offering the same courses registered with the agency.

Earlier, TESDA also shut down the Electron Technical Training Center (ETTC) in Valenzuela City for operating without license and offering courses that are not registered with the agency.