THE TECHNICAL Education and Skills Development Authority has reported significant headways in strengthening the technical vocational education and training sector in the Asean region.

During the 27th ASEAN Labor Ministers Meeting last October 28, TESDA Director General Danilo Cruz highlighted the progress made by the ASEAN TVET Council in the last two years of the Philippines’ chairmanship of the council.

“We recognize that these activities will help inspire new ideas and policy actions among our TVET leaders and policymakers, and support the operationalization of the ATC Work Plan moving forward,” Cruz said.

These activities were useful in the planned and future works of the council, the official said.

The Philippines assumed the inaugural chairmanship of ATC in March 2020.

The biennial Ministerial meeting, currently chaired by the Department of Labor and Employment, convenes labor ministers from the 10 ASEAN Member States and ASEAN+3 countries (China, Japan, and Korea) to discuss labor and employment plans and programs in the region.

Cruz shared that in 2021, the ATC, then chaired by former TESDA chief Isidro Lapeña, successfully convened the first ATC Meeting via video conference. The inaugural meeting set the tone for the development of the ATC work plan which will guide the future work of the council.

In June 2021, the Philippines hosted a two-day workshop on the development of the ATC Work Plan where the council came up with a more concrete plan in terms of the priority programs that they will pursue in the ATC.

The Philippines and Vietnam hosted the Regional Policy Dialogue in June which focused on the important role of TVET governance in shaping a well-qualified workforce.

Meanwhile, last September 24 to October 5, the ATC Study Tour on TVET Innovation and TVET Cooperation in Europe was held to help ATC members learn and explore the dual TVET systems of Germany as well as the various practices of regional TVET cooperation in Europe.

The second ATC meeting will be held in person on November 17-18 in the Philippines.