THE TECHNICAL Education and Skills Development Authority renewed its partnership with Accenture Philippines to continue implementing their joint project ‘Skills to Succeed Academy’.

TESDA Director General Danilo Cruz said the new agreement ushers in more and better opportunities for Filipino workers to improve their skills and push for competitive edge in the global market.

“This MOA signing comes at a very opportune time as TESDA incorporates more and more 21st century skills into its training regulations and competency standards,” he said.

“We acknowledge Accenture Philippines for investing in the TVET sector and tapping the services of TESDA. Together, we shall continue providing our kababayans with job opportunities and improving the productivity and quality of our industries,” he added.

The new Memorandum of Agreement was signed by Cruz and Accenture in the Philippines’s Executive Sponsor for Corporate Citizenship Rudy Guiao, Jr., at the TESDA Board Room at TESDA Central Office, in Taguig City.

“The S2S Academy courses will further strengthen TESDA’s initiatives towards the delivery of area-based and demand-driven technical vocational education and training,” said TESDA Deputy Director General for Policies and Planning Rosanna Urdaneta.

“Further, these courses are invaluable in preparing our workers and entrepreneurs to adapt to the challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” added Urdaneta.

Launched in 2018, the S2S Academy is a free, web-based application that offers a highly interactive and online training program, helping disadvantaged young people build skills and confidence to make career choices and develop the key employability skills they need to find and sustain employment.

The agreement calls for the continuous implementation of the S2S Academy in TESDA Technology Institutions and other TVET institutions.

Originally, three courses were available to help the learners in their job-seeking journey and these are, “Choose a Career,” “Getting a Job,” and “Success in Work.”

In 2020, Accenture added eight other courses to the platform named “New Skills Now” for learners’ success in the digital economy. These courses include, “Lifelong Learning,” “Emotional Intelligence,” “Solving Problems,” “Thinking Critically,” “Understanding Technology,” “Technology at Work,” “Exploring Coding”, and “Discovering Data.”

All these courses can be accessed by the learners through the TTIs, some selected private technical vocational institutions, and through the TESDA Online Program.

In areas with internet connectivity issues, Accenture Philippines provided selected TTIs with 10 Raspberry Pi devices to allow learners with offline access to the S2S Academy courses.

As of August 25, Accenture’s data show more than 54,000 learners from TESDA have benefited from the S2S Academy courses and interactive sessions since 2018.TUR