LAS PIÑAS Rep. Camille Villar stressed the need to establish a dedicated technical skills department amid the recent supervisory turbulence that the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority or TESDA underwent.

Thus, Villar said, “it is high time to approve House Bill No. 9903, or the proposed Department of Technical Education and Skills Development Act.”

Villar underscored that skills development is critical in ensuring that workers can properly and efficiently do their jobs.

“We need to make sure that our workers are fully adept at performing their tasks. A skilled workforce would make it easy for government offices and private businesses to properly function. To this end, we need to sustain a talented pool of manpower, which is possible through technical education and skills development,” Villar said.

She stressed that the government must provide relevant, accessible, high-quality, and efficient technical education and skills development in support of the development of high-quality Filipino manpower responsive to and by Philippine development goals and priorities.

The 1987 Constitution requires the State to encourage active participation of various concerned sectors, public as well as private technical-vocational institutions being direct participants in and immediate beneficiaries of a technically educated and trained workforce, in providing technical education services and training opportunities.

The bill proposes the creation of the Department of Technical Education and Skills Development as a permanent and dedicated government agency for the promotion of technical education and skills development.

It will replace TESDA, which was established through Republic Act No. 7796, or the TESDA Act, on August 25, 1994.

TESDA is mandated to oversee skills development, set standards, accredit institutions, fund projects, and support trainer programs for the development of top-quality middle-level manpower.