THE DEPARTMENT of Education’s new Technical Professional or TechPro track aims to correct long-standing issues in aligning technical-vocational education with the standards and assessments of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), according to TESDA Director General Francisco “Kiko” Benitez.

Benitez made the statement during the Senate Committee on Finance’s deliberation on TESDA’s proposed 2026 budget, as lawmakers raised concerns over the persistently low assessment rate among Senior High School graduates under the Technical-Vocational-Livelihood (TVL) track.

Of the more than 500,000 SHS-TVL Grade 12 completers eligible for certification, only 35% have taken the TESDA assessment.

This, despite a special provision in the 2025 General Appropriations Bill—championed by the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM II)—mandating the assessment of all SHS-TVL completers.

“In a perfect world, those Senior High School students taking the TVL track, or now TechPro, should be assessed and have their certification,” said Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate Committee on Finance and serves as an EDCOM II Commissioner.

When asked about the causes of low assessment participation, Benitez cited two major factors: the voluntary non-assessment of students who plan to pursue college degrees, and the misalignment between the SHS-TVL curriculum and TESDA’s training regulations.

Gatchalian pressed further, asking, “What’s the way forward to align it more tightly?”

Benitez replied that the first step is ensuring that DepEd teachers handling TVL courses are properly certified by TESDA.

“Once that is ready, DepEd can make it possible for all Senior High School students to undergo assessment—whether they pass or not,” he said.

The TESDA chief also pointed to the TechPro track as a key reform measure. The new pathway replaces the SHS-TVL track and is designed to deliver specialized, hands-on training for students aiming to enter the workforce right after graduation.

TechPro will focus on clusters of electives such as agriculture, information and communications technology, and industrial arts, aligning the curriculum more closely with industry needs. Graduates are expected to be employment-ready, with TESDA National Certifications integrated directly into their coursework.

“This directly addresses a major issue faced by SHS-TVL graduates,” Benitez said. “Many of them could not be certified because their training did not match TESDA’s assessment requirements. TechPro fixes that by embedding certifiable skills into the curriculum itself.”

Benitez added that the rollout of the new curriculum is already underway. “We expect more students to start taking the elective courses by January,” he said.

He also announced that TESDA National Certifications will soon be embedded in teacher education programs, ensuring that future educators are competent to deliver industry-aligned instruction.

“We are completing the ecosystem of tech-voc education—from Senior High School all the way to higher education under CHED—by capacitating our teachers, both pre-service and in-service,” Benitez said. “That’s really the key to reform. The timeline for that is maybe one to two years from now.”

With the implementation of the TechPro track, TESDA and DepEd aim to bridge the gap between classroom learning and workforce readiness—turning technical-vocational education into a true pathway for employment and national development.