CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (PIA)--The Out-of-School Youth Development Alliance (OSYDA) of Cagayan de Oro City, comprised of local and national agencies for education, employment, skills training, livelihood, and entrepreneurship, discussed details and work plans for the upcoming "Kahigayonan" (opportunity) Caravan in July and updates on the development of the eMonitor Mo app.
The alliance collaborates on priority interventions that address the challenges and critical constraints of the envisioned youth development paths.
OSYDA is set to launch Kahigayonan 2023: Skills Expo, Registration, and Job Fair Caravan, July 13, 2023. The activity is a one-stop shop that offers multiple opportunities and services for the youth.
The Kahigayonan job fair projects a turnout of 1,000 out-of-school youth aged 18–30 years old as participants while also being open to the public.
OSYDA, for their part, will partner with specific employers whose workforce needs match applicants who have completed TESDA skills programs as a way of "job-matching).
OSYDA also presented updates on the University of Science and Technology of the Southern Philippines (USTP)-developed "eMonitor Mo" app, a United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-supported initiative for online youth registration, profiling, mapping, and referral systems for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and DepEd Alternative Learning System (ALS) 2.0 youth in CDO. OSYDA is set to facilitate the Technology Transfer Agreement (TTA) from the developers to the Oro Youth Development Office.
City’s Oro Youth Development Office's (OYDO) OIC, Lord Saver D. Centina, said, "Moving forward, I think once the TTA will be signed by the mayor and the USTP, there will be a series of trainings for the different agencies who would be involved, especially for the referral of our services."
For his part, City Councilor John Michael Seno, OSYDA co-chairperson, said that an ordinance is required to give CDO Mayor Rolando Uy authority to sign the TTA.
"Para masustain nato ni nga program, we also consider issues, kay dili ko gusto nga pagbiya nato dinhi ang programa nato masayang lang, kung naay kinahanglan amendahan sa ordinansa, we will amend," Seno said.
(For us to sustain it, we also consider issues, because I do not want that if ever it is gone, so will the program. If there is a need to amend the ordinance, we will amend)
Seno added that there is no such thing as a perfect law or ordinance—only perfect intentions.
USAID Economic Development Council (EDC) youth development coordinator Kotie Bax provided updates on their program.
Bax said that 1,006 out-of-school youth reached and underwent skills training in the Opportunity 2.0 Program from 2020 to 2022 in Cagayan de Oro City. The trainings are 21st Century Skills, Pathways Orientation for Youth, Higher-Level Education or Training Readiness Orientation (HERO), Word-Based Learning, and Be Your Own Boss.
According to Bax, the youths who transitioned from being out-of-school youth are 238 self-employed, 233 in wage employment, and 242 in pursuit of further education. (SAYU/PIA-10)
