TESDA offers skills training to OSYs and drug surrenders in ARMM

• Source: http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?nid=2&rid=935539
• Friday, October 28, 2016

By Noel Y. Punzalan [(PNA), LAP/NYP/]

COTABATO CITY, Oct. 28 (PNA) -- The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) is giving priority to the out-of-school youth and drug surrenders for their various vocational and technical skills programs, including those from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

“We would see to it that the out-of-school youth and drug surrenders could avail of the program. We will not leave them hanging,” TESDA Director General Guiling Mamondiong said in a huddle with a group of newsmen here Friday.

Mamondiong said the agency would continue to implement its current programs, which has integrated the anti-poverty agenda of President Rodrigo Duterte to its practical skills courses.

To further pursue an active participation of communities in TESDA’s programs, Mamondiong said letters have been sent to all 42,000 barangays in the country asking local officials to provide them a list of recommended scholars and the kind of skills training they need.

The agency’s 14-point Reform and Development Agenda for the next six years include the Barangay-based Scholarship Program; On-line Scholarship Application; Technical Audit of TVET (Technical Vocational Education and Training) Schools and Programs; Skills Training for Drug Dependents; and the Skills Training for Entrepreneurs and Family Enterprises.

Also in the agenda are the Skills Training for Inmates and their Families; Inclusive Program for Women; Continuing Program for TESDA’s Alumni; Global Access to/on-line database of TVET Graduates and Certified Workers; Linkages with Agro-Industry; Linkages with State Universities and Colleges and Local Universities and Colleges; Linkages with Foreign Skills Training Institutions; Transparency; and Moral Renewal.

“We are confident that these programs will help empower our people to become more productive members of society,” Mamondiong said.

The agency’s programs are free of charge to out-of-school youth, persons with disabilities, as well as employed and unemployed residents of the region.

The TESDA chief’s pronouncement came in the heels of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s scheduled visit to the ARMM compound in this city on October 28 for the launching of the region’s Comprehensive Reform and Development Agenda (CRDA).

The CRDA intends to uplift the lives of residents in the region and other conflict-affected areas in Mindanao.

Its beneficiaries include the towns of Jolo (Sulu), Bongao (Tawi-Tawi), and Marawi City (Lanao del Sur), as well as the provinces of Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao.

Aside from ARMM areas, other beneficiaries of the initiative are Region 9 – Zamboanga City, Ipil (Zamboanga Sibugay), and Pagadian (Zamboanga del Sur).

Also included are Region 10 – Tubod (Lanao del Norte) and Lanao del Norte province; and, Region 12 – Isulan (Sultan Kudarat) and the cities Kidapawan (North Cotabato), Koronadal (South Cotabato) and General Santos City.

Among the programs, projects, and services covered by CRDA are scholarships from TESDA and from the Commission on Higher Education.

Other anti-poverty initiatives lined up for launching are water projects from the Department of the Interior and Local Government; agricultural machinery, equipment and seedling from the Department of Agriculture; banca, fishing gear and gill nets from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.

Supplemental feeding from the Department of Social Welfare and Development; opportunities under the Special Programs and Employment of Students beneficiaries of the Department of Labor and Employment; and distribution of PhilHealth cards would also be highlighted.

Mamondiong said he has been tasked by the President to coordinate with other agencies in resolving poverty and hunger in Mindanao with TESDA being one of 12 government agencies in the forefront of combatting poverty.

The Chief Executive has earlier directed various government agencies to submit measures on how to ease hunger and poverty in Mindanao.