Phl, Hungary ink accord on vocational education

MANILA – The Philippines and Hungary will partner on vocational education and training (VET), the Philippine Permanent Mission to the United Nations announced on Friday night via its Twitter account.

This was after Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. and his Hungarian counterpart Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the sidelines of the 2022 International Migration Review Forum in New York on May 20.

The MOU covers cooperation in the areas of VET systems; development of competency standards, assessment, and certification in VET; strengthening businesses’ participation; mobility programs; research and development; and human resources development programs.

Both countries recognized that developing VET, as well as adult learning systems would help respond to the changing demands of the labor market, especially with the challenges posed by the 4.0 Industrial Revolution, digitalization, and automation.

The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and Hungary’s Ministry of Innovation and Technology will implement the agreement.

The MOU is the latest milestone in the bilateral relations between the Philippines and Hungary, which will mark its 50th year in 2023.

Aside from the signing, Locsin and Szijjártó also discussed the political, financial, and economic relations, including common positions on multilateral issues, the permanent mission said.