A total of 2,000 scholars from four of the country’s poorest provinces will get free training on the course of their choice, stipend and opportunities for employment or a business of their own under the joint program of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and the International Labor Organization (ILO).
The joint program, dubbed “Alternatives to Migration: Decent Jobs for Filipino Youth,” is a labor market-responsive technical vocational skills training for disadvantage youth. TESDA Director General Joel Villanueva said that the program will benefit 500 youth each from the provinces of Masbate, Antique, Agusan del Sur and Maguindanao.
“Jobs and the urgent need to provide them are high in the priority list of the government as it is the same case in other countries where youth employment scenarios are near-crisis level,” Villanueva said.
The first batch of 940 youths has been training since September, and the second batch is being readied for this month. After the classroom sessions, the students will undergo on-the-job training with select companies through an apprenticeship program. They are expected to complete the program. They are expected to complete the program on or before end May 2012.
Villanueva stressed the need to provide Filipino youths the chance to move from idleness and get them into the world of work. “To be idle is an appalling waste of resources as well as a personal tragedy for many people.”
Scholarships are made possible with the P20 million commitment of the ILO for the Millennium Development Goals Achievement Fund (MDG-F) Joint Programme on Youth, Employment and Migration (YEM).
The program will also have gender-sensitivity component, which will require TESDA to reproduce gender-sensitive modules and training materials, including training tools on sexually-transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS, and roll out the developed curriculum among TVET trainers.
Villanueva said that for the first batch of training, a total of 250 scholars were selected from Maguindanao; 250 from Antique; 190 from Masbate; and, 250 from Agusan. Some P8.3 million has been allocated to cover the cost of scholarship.
Among the popular courses chosen by the scholars are computer hardware, driving, shielded metal are welding, dressmaking, commercial cooking, food and beverage servicing, plumbing, masonry, and motorcycle servicing.
“Within one year after training, 1,100 of the graduates or 55 percent will find employment,” Villanueva said.
He said he hopes that the TESDA-ILO project could reach more poor provinces in the future to open up opportunities for them through technical-vocational training, and boost job creation in the countryside.

Source: Manila Bulletin - October 21, 2011