SENATE President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda on Thursday urged the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority to partner with Google Philippines to combat digital illiteracy.

The senator said TESDA should consider the courses offered by Google Philippines such as Data analytics, IT support, UX design, and project management in Information Technology.

“Would similar courses offered by international companies like Google be offered in TESDA or is it possible for TESDA to collaborate with an international company like Google, to offer digital courses considering that we are number one in terms of digital illiteracy for children?” Legarda said.

TESDA Deputy Director General Rosanna Urdaneta said TESDA is working on having a diploma course on cyber security and coordinating with experts from the military, banks, financial institutions and academe.

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva asked TESDA officials their participation in the training of farmers.

Villanueva said that during the discussions on the approval of the Salt Industry Revitalization Act, the sponsor mentioned that TESDA is just a caretaker of funds in the training of farmers and that the Department of Agriculture implements the training program.

TESDA Deputy Director General Aniceto Bertiz III clarified that it is TESDA that implements the training program while the DA identifies the farmers who will undergo training.