TESDA told to improve Senior High schoolers’ chances for employment

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PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. yesterday ordered the harmonizing and integration of some technical and vocational educational programs (TVET) into the Senior High School curriculum to help improve the students’ skills and increase their employment chances in the country and abroad.

Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Deputy Director General Rosanna Urdaneta said the President, during yesterday’s sectoral meeting, directed the agency, along with the Department of Education (DepEd), Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to work out the details and eventually reskill and upskill Filipinos as soon as possible.

Urdaneta said that based on a Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), there remains a mismatch between the demands for workers and the skills of graduates.

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She said even senior high school graduates are not fully equipped to match the skills demanded by industries.

“So what the President instructed the TESDA director general is for him to work closely with DepEd and harmonize the curriculum of TVET as well as that of the senior high school so proposed this embedment,” Urdaneta said in mixed English and Filipino.

She said a technical working group has been formed to work out the details, including the pilot testing of the integration process in select schools around the country.

She said at least 80 training programs would be reintegrated into the senior high school program. TESDA had initially identified 84 Training Regulations (TR).

After the pilot implementation, TESDA will request the issuance of an Executive Order to institutionalize the adoption of TVET in the SHS curriculum.

TESDA Director General Suharto Mangudadatu said some of the TRs are related to robotics and technology, semiconductors and electronics, which are in demand now and are expected to be in demand in several more years.

Mangudadatu said about 4,000 teachers will also be trained for the reintegration program.

He assured that the integration will not burden the teachers or result in major changes in the senior high school curriculum.

Urdaneta said that by integrating the TVET program into the senior high school curriculum, the graduating students would not just receive a diploma for completing their high school but would also receive a certificate for the skills training program which can be converted and credited to those who would continue to pursue college or other higher learning.

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