SENATORS Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada and Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. on Wednesday stressed the need to strengthen apprenticeship training in the country to promote full employment of the Filipino youth.

Estrada, who chairs the Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resources Development, said the proposed revision of the National Apprenticeship Program highlighted that youth unemployment has become a significant concern for the government. He said that this calls for focused and intensive measures to enhance the employability of the youth.

Revilla, meanwhile, said the passage of the National Apprenticeship Program would give the youth the opportunity to experience real working conditions, including work dynamics under a supervised setup.

This is to help our youth gain more relevant skills and experiences which are necessary to be more effective members of the country’s workforce. We hope that through this measure, we will be able to break down the misconception of lack of experience which is usually attached to young age,” Revilla said.

The House of Representatives has approved a measure seeking to strengthen the enterprise-based apprenticeship program and training to raise the level of skills and competencies of Filipino students and fill the labor and personnel demands of industries.

The measure aimed to rationalize the middle-level workers’ training system by consolidating apprenticeship, dual training, on-the-job training programs and all other forms of industry-based training arrangement.