Schools urged to avail free Covid prevention course

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO---The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) opened its free online course on Covid-19 prevention for schools.

The project will allow schools to detect and manage the virus in campuses across the country.

Tesda Director General General Danilo Cruz told SunStar Pampanga that public and private schools, colleges, and universities may take online courses.

“As we set to open our schools for full face-toface classes, we are inviting everyone to enroll in our free online courses related to COVID-19 management to help prevent the spread of the virus and adapt to the changes brought by it,” he said.

The course is available at e-tesda.gov.ph. The public may access it anytime and anywhere using their internet-capable smartphones, computers, or laptops.

The free Covid-19 management program comes after Tesda's online course “Practicing COVID-19 Preventive Measures in the Workplace '' program integrated into its Tesda Online Program during the height of the pandemic.

The “Practicing Covid-19 Preventive Measures in the Workplace” course has always been among the most popular courses.

In 2020, more than 142,000 completed the course, while another 383,826 took it in 2021, he sai d .

Tesda has linked free online courses about Covid19 management from other open sources, such as the “Contact Tracing Course” of the Johns Hopkins University, and “Covid-19: How to put on and remove personal protective equipment and Standard precautions: Hand hygiene”of the World Health Organization, among others.

Enrollees to the program receive an electronic certificate of completion when they finish a course.

Those who complete courses for full qualifications can undergo a competency assessment and receive a National Certificate.

Aside from the website, the program can also be accessed through its own mobile app, which can be downloaded for smartphones via Google Play or App Store.

It offers 150 courses in various sectors including construction, automotive and land transport, electrical and electronics, among other s.

Since its launch in 2012, the Tesda Online Program currently has more than four million registered users.