SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian on Wednesday called on the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority to address the persistent high rates of jobs-skills mismatch among Technical-Vocational Education and Training graduates.

Using TESDA’s Individual Graduate Tracer Surveys for the years 2013, 2014, and 2017, the Asian Development Bank estimates that occupational mismatch rates hover around 60 percent to 80 percent in the years mentioned.

In 2017, 70 percent of respondents had jobs which were not the occupational expectations of their training in school.

“This is quite concerning considering that the budget of TESDA has skyrocketed over the last 10 years. At this time, TESDA is receiving P14 billion more or less, on average, pero may mga report pa rin tayong nakukuha na 70-80% ng mga graduates ng TESDA ay nakakuha ng trabaho na hindi angkop sa kanilang naging pagsasanay o training,” Gatchalian said.

The ADB also reported that from 2014-2020, enrollment in enterprise-based tech-voc training programs, which are conducted within companies, account for only 4 percent of total enrollment.

This prompted the senator to urge TESDA to ramp up enterprise-based training.

While some tasks and skills may become redundant and irrelevant because of rapid technological changes, EBT offers an edge because it is more aligned with rapidly evolving workplace and workshop needs, the ADB noted.

“Enterprise-based training, for me, is an exciting method because it’s a way for enterprises and for businesses to train based on their needs, and a person can work in their factories or their businesses immediately after being trained,” Gatchalian said.

“The enterprise-based method, in simple terms, is apprenticeship, and I hope that we can increase this,” he added.