MARAWI CITY, Lanao del Sur (PIA) -- A total of 132 scholars received training certificates for completing their respective technical and vocational courses in a mass graduation ceremony here in the city.

The training was supervised by the Provincial/City Manpower Development Center (PCMDC), the lone government-owned training institution in Lanao del Sur.

Of the 132 graduates, 23 finished the carpentry course while 44 completed the tile setting qualification. They already underwent assessment by the Ministry of Basic, Higher, and Technical Education - Technical Education and Skills Development (MBHTE-TESD) and are now National Certificate (NC) II holders.

The other 65 scholars completed the Trainer’s Methodology Level I course and are eyed as future trainers of the PCMDC after passing the assessment.

PCMDC administrator Insanoray Amerol-Macapaar said the training was provided under the Bangsamoro Scholarship Program for TVET: Tulong ng TekBok sa Pag-angat ng Bangsamoro.

"Ito ay program exclusively from BARMM for BARMM. Hindi lahat ng regions may ganitong opportunity, most of them only get grants from TESDA Central Office," she said.

As such, she encouraged the graduates to value the opportunity given to them and apply the skills they learned to uplift their lives. "Think of what you can do for BARMM and not what BARMM can do for you," Macapaar added.

The PCMDC chief also reminded them not to forget that they owe the opportunity given to them to the Bangsamoro government and the Bangsamoro leaders who worked hard for the establishment of BARMM.

MBHTE-TESD Lanao del Sur Provincial Director Asnawi Bato congratulated the graduates and emphasized the importance of their acquired skills in improving the productivity of the entire Bangsamoro region.

"One of the reasons why very low ang productivity ng BARMM region is because of the scarcity of industry workers. And this has been given significance by the BARMM government, that is why, pagpasok ni BARMM, they funded a scholarship program for TVET which is one of the subsectors ng ating Ministry (MBHTE)," he explained.

Aside from certificates, the graduates also received Training Support Fund during the graduation ceremony. (APB/PIA-10/Lanao del Sur)