SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian on Sunday confirmed that the Senate Committee on Finance has added more than P50 million to the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority for the accreditation of more than 11,000 additional assessors.

The lawmaker proposed to increase TESDA’s appropriation for the Technical Education and Skills Development Regulatory Program by P50,012,000 for the accreditation of 11,838 additional assessors.

The Senate Committee on Finance accepted Gatchalian’s proposal, which will support the rollout of the free assessment and certification of 420,967 Grade 12 learners taking the technical-vocational-livelihood track.

Gatchalian has been pushing for the assessment and certification of senior high learners in the TVL track to boost their chances of getting decent jobs.

While a certification could boost a senior high school graduate’s employability, the Department of Education said that not all learners can afford the cost of undergoing assessment.

He also proposed the allocation of P438.16 million, also under TESDA’s Development Regulatory Program, for the assessment and certification of these senior high school learners.

For School Year 2020-2021, only 6.7% or 32,965 out of 473,911 senior high school graduates who took the TVL track underwent the assessment for national certification while 97 % or 31,933 of those who took the assessment passed.

“Currently, TESDA has around 7,500-pool of assessors and to certify all our senior high school graduates, we need an additional 11,000. The P50 million proposal will increase the number of our assessors so that our senior high school graduates can be assessed and once they have the national certification, they can present that whenever they look for employment,” said Gatchalian, Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Basic Education.

Analysis from Gatchalian’s office has revealed that 50% of senior high school graduates from the TVL track are employed in elementary occupations, the lowest level of occupational category in terms of skills requirement, which include street vendors, cleaners, domestic helpers, car and windows washers, and street sweepers.

Under Gatchalian’s proposal, TESDA will be able to triple its current assessment capacity from 7,551 to 19,389 by the end of 2024, which will be enough to implement the assessment of senior high school learners for their national certifications.