TAGUIG CITY -- To ensure that the training it offers is aligned with what the industry needs, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) signed agreements with various private stakeholders to reinforce the country's technical vocational education and training (TVET).

TESDA Secretary Suharto T. Mangudadatu pointed out that the agency has been partnering with the private sector in pursuit of a more area-based and demand-driven TVET. He added that the partnerships will empower more Filipinos especially those who are in the lower strata of the society. 

“We continue to tie up with the industry to guarantee that tech-voc graduates have exactly the skills and knowledge that are required by employers,” the Secretary said.

On August 22, TESDA signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the San Miguel Corporation (SMC) to provide skills training, upskilling, and re-skilling of Filipino human resources to include displaced workers returning overseas Filipino workers, senior citizens, persons with disabilities, and other qualified clients.

Likewise, on August 24, as part of its 29th anniversary celebration, TESDA signed various Memoranda of Agreement (MOA), People Management Association of the Philippines (PMAP), Coca-Cola Philippines, and Microsoft Philippines.

TESDA and PMAP are set to boost workers’ and trainers’ participation in human capital development to create a pool of qualified, globally competitive, and job-ready workforce needed by the industry.

Further, TESDA and Coca-Cola Philippines renewed their partnership for the provision of entrepreneurial skills training to Filipino beneficiaries.

Lastly, the TESDA-Microsoft Philippines partnership aims to provide opportunities for the digital skilling of tech-voc learners of TESDA and explore possible frameworks, structures, directions, and strategies to support the Information Technology sector workforce skilling requirements/workforce development.

Establishment of Industry Boards

Meanwhile, TESDA also signed MOAs with various industry stakeholders for the establishment of industry boards. A TVET industry board is an independent, industry-led body that aims to bridge the gap between the demands of the industries and the TVET skills standards by ensuring that education and training systems are responsive to labor market needs.

TESDA partnered with the Philippine Constructors Association, Inc. (PCA) for the national TVET industry board for the construction sector; the Tourism Industry Board Foundation, Inc. (TIBFI) for the tourism sector; and the IT & Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) for the information and communications technology (ICT) sector.

Further, TESDA and Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation, Inc. (SEIPI) will establish the national TVET industry board for the Manufacturing - Semiconductor, and Electronics Subsector and Philippine Cacao Industry Association (PCIA) for the Agriculture Sector – Cacao Subsector. (TESDA)