TAGUIG CITY -- The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) has maintained its high approval and trust ratings according to a recent survey conducted by an independent pollster.
According to 2021 PAHAYAG Second Quarter Survey conducted by PUBLiCUS Asia, TESDA received a 65 percent approval rating for its performance over the past 12 months, just behind the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) with 67 percent.
TESDA was followed by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) with 61 percent approval rating.
Likewise, TESDA was among the most trusted agencies along with AFP and DOST. AFP had 50 percent trust ratings while TESDA and DOST have 45 percent and 40 percent respectively.
The survey was conducted nationwide covering 1,500 respondents during the period of July 13-19, 2021.
It can be recalled that the first quarter publication of PAHAYAG survey showed that TESDA got the highest approval rating for its performance among government agencies after it gained a 62.1 percent approval rating.
The same survey, which was conducted last March 20-29, also revealed that TESDA placed second in the trust ratings at 42.8 percent among the national agencies, following the AFP at 43.9 percent.
In the recent years, TESDA found itself actively engaged at the forefront of government’s effort to improve the lives of the poor and reduce poverty incidence in the country.
In collaboration with other government agencies and private organizations, TESDA continues to reach out to people in far-flung areas and marginalized communities by providing them with special training packages fitted to their environment and skills needed in the community.
Meanwhile, since the onset of the pandemic, TESDA has been active in providing training for Filipinos especially Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who were affected by the pandemic.
From January to June 2021, the agency has trained and retooled some 5,558 former OFWs.
For the same period, TESDA has produced 389, 767 graduates and certified 257, 273 individuals as skilled workers under its regular scholarship program.
Based on the previous directive of the TESDA chief Secretary Isidro Lapeña, TESDA likewise strengthened its online program, the TESDA Online Program (TOP) at the height of the community quarantine last year. From March 2020 to June 2021, some 1,632,168 have already registered in the TOP. This brought the total accumulated users since 2012 at 3,068,775.
Currently, the TOP offers 103 online courses from different industry sectors such as “Practicing COVID-19 Preventive Measures in the Workplace”, “Preparing Cakes” “Introduction to Food Processing,” among others.
Lapeña attributed the high approval and trust ratings to the agency’s commitment to upskill and reskill of Filipino workers.
He also vowed to strengthen TESDA’s advocacy of helping Filipinos by reaching out to all sectors and making its services more accessible. He added that the agency will continue enhancing its partnerships with private industries and other government agencies to improve its platform of empowering Filipinos as skilled individuals.
“I would like to thank our kababayans for their continued trust in TESDA. I assure you that we will continue to deliver services to Filipinos, with or without a public health crisis,” he said. (TESDA)
