THE TECHNICAL Education and Skills Development Authority, in partnership with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and BDO Foundation, aims to improve the financial health and capability of over four million tech-voc learners through a free, online course on personal finance.

TESDA Director General Danilo Cruz said financial literacy will better prepare tech-voc learners to succeed.

“The 21st-century workplace demands workers to demonstrate self-management and develop practices and attitudes toward lifelong learning and career development. In this regard, TESDA, together with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the BDO Foundation aims that, once launched, this course will help our learners develop self-management strategies and reflective practices as they handle their personal finances. It will also enable them to make sound financial decisions towards the attainment of their life and career goals,” Cruz said.

The Financial Literacy Course will be available to the general public and to technical-vocational education and training learners via the TESDA Online Program accessible at www.e-tesda.gov.ph.

The project is the result of an agreement signed last March 2023 by BSP Governor Felipe Medalla and Deputy Governor Bernadette Romulo-Puyat; Cruz and TRSDA Deputy Director General Rosanna Urdaneta; and BDO Foundation President Mario Deriquito and trustees Lucy Co Dy and Lazaro Jerome Guevarra.

The course is scheduled for launch in 2024 under the platform’s Lifelong Learning Skills courses. Topics covered in the FLC include financial planning, saving and budgeting, debt and investment management, digital financial literacy, and consumer protection.

“To expand the reach of BSP’s financial inclusion efforts, sustainable public-private partnerships are instrumental in developing more financial education programs that are free, effective, accessible, interactive, and scalable,” Medalla said.

BDO Foundation President Deriquito thanked TESDA and BSP for the partnership.

“We look forward to working closely with TESDA and the BSP’s Economic and Financial Learning Office on the development of the FLC. Through this partnership project, we hope to help enhance the economic well-being of the participants of TESDA’s training programs,” he said.