Tesda backs govt review of educational curriculum to address skills-job mismatch

THE Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) on Thursday said that it is open for a review on the country’s education curriculum to address skills-job mismatch.

Tesda said that they are willing revisit the country’s education curriculum, as planned by the Marcos administration in order to further enhance workforce job readiness, competitiveness and relevance.

The agency has been strengthening its industry boards and its coordination with industry associations so that these groups will be more involved in the development of competency standards and training regulations.

New Tesda chief

MEANWHILE, Tesda welcomed the appointment of former Department of Labor and Employment Undersecretary Danilo P. Cruz as the 13th Director General of the Agency.

“We likewise thank President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. for tapping Mr. Cruz to lead Tesda and implement his priority programs such as those for agriculture and languages,” Tesda said.

Tesda added: “As a former Undersecretary of the Department of Labor and Employment, Mr. Cruz’s expertise in the labor sector will surely be beneficial in strengthening the technical-vocational education and training (TVET) of the country.”

“We are hopeful that Mr. Cruz will continue and build on the ongoing campaign of Tesda to make TVET (technical-vocational education training) more accessible and relevant to Filipinos, and we are eagerly looking forward to working with him,” Tesda said.

Engagement with industry partners

TESDA noted that it has actively engaged industry partners in developing the content of training regulations for our workers and tech-voc trainers.

This will help to ensure further that what is being taught in tech-voc institutions are the exact skills needed by the industry, Tesda said.

In the last five years, more college students and graduates have enrolled in Tesda tech-voc courses.

On average, 47 percent TVET graduates had a college degree or were studying in college before enrolling in TVET courses, according to Tesda’s Study on the Employment of Technical Vocational Education and Training Graduates (SETG).

SETG attributed this rise in tech-voc enrolment to college graduates not having the skills required by the industry brought about by the lack of actual hands-on training and exposure to updated equipment.

According to Deputy Director General for Tesda Operations Aniceto D. Bertiz III, in order to address this skills-job mismatch, Tesda has been implementing enterprise-based training (EBT) programs through its “EBT to the Max” promotion campaign.

“These enable our trainees to receive instruction in two venues: the institution for their theoretical subjects and in-company to apply what they had learned and to be familiar with tools and equipment commonly used in industry,” he said.

The graduates of EBT to the Max programs, Bertiz pointed out, have consistently reported higher employment rates than most other tech-voc programs.

“We need more of the country’s industries to participate and implement training through EBT to the Max. This will give our tech-voc trainees the edge needed to remain competitive and graduate from their courses with job-ready skills,” he added.

At present, 1,876 institutions and their partner companies are implementing “EBT to the Max” programs in the country.

TVET policy reform

TESDA has also recently started implementing its area-based and demand-driven TVET policy reform which enables the agency and the country’s TVET sector to better zoom in and focus on the skills needed by the industries and employers in a specific area or locality.

The policy induces more industry participation in the provision of tech-voc training and keeps Tesda informed on workforce development needs.

Bertiz also pointed out that Tesda recognizes that rapid advances in technology introduced by the 4th Industrial Revolution will also trigger mismatches as more workers and graduates may not have updated knowledge and skills.

He said Tesda has been incorporating 21st century skills into its training regulations and curriculum.

These skills include critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication, information literacy, media literacy, and technology literacy, among others.