THE TECHNICAL Education and Skills Development Authority signed agreements with various private stakeholders to reinforce the country’s technical vocational education and training.

TESDA Director-General Suharto Mangudadatu said that the agency partnered with the private sector for a more area-based and demand-driven TVET. He added that the partnerships will empower more Filipinos, especially the poor.

“We continue to tie up with the industry to guarantee that tech-voc graduates have exactly the skills and knowledge that are required by employers,” the TESDA chief said.

On August 22, TESDA signed a memorandum of agreement with San Miguel Corporation for a skills training program that will enable finishers to grab jobs and other opportunities at SMC’s New Manila International Airport as well as other projects. The partnership also aims to provide skills training to displaced workers, returning overseas Filipino workers, senior citizens, persons with disabilities, and other qualified clients.

Meanwhile, as part of its 29th anniversary celebration, TESDA signed memoranda of agreement with the People Management Association of the Philippines, Coca-Cola Philippines and Microsoft Philippines.

Its partnership with PMAP will boost workers’ and trainers’ participation in human capital development that will create a pool of qualified, globally competitive and job-ready workforce.

Coca-Cola Philippines, on the other hand, renewed its partnership with TESDA so that it could provide more entrepreneurial skills training to beneficiaries.

The TESDA-Microsoft Philippines partnership, meanwhile, aims to enhance the digital skilling of tech-voc learners and explore possible frameworks and strategies to support and develop the Information Technology sector workforce.

TESDA said it signed other agreements with various industry stakeholders for the establishment of industry boards. A TVET industry board is an independent body that aims to bridge the gap between the demands of the industries and the TVET skills standards by ensuring that education and training systems are responsive to labor market needs.

TESDA partnered with the Philippine Constructors Association, Inc. for the national TVET industry board for the construction sector; the Tourism Industry Board Foundation, Inc. for the tourism sector; and the IT & Business Process Association of the Philippines for the information and communications technology sector.

TESDA and the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation, Inc. will establish the national TVET industry board for the Manufacturing-Semiconductor, and Electronics Subsector and Philippine Cacao Industry Association for the Agriculture Sector–Cacao Subsector.