The “Hanapbuhay para sa mga TESDA Specialista” is a job bridging converging program of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) to facilitate the employment of thousands of Filipino technical-vocational (tech-voc) graduates. The program, launched through job fairs on March 11, 2013 in Metro Manila, is a venue for the meeting of jobseekers and employers. It has since expanded to the provinces, starting in Bohol on April 23, 2013.
DOLE and TESDA, assisted by local government units, identify the training programs suited to applicants based on the skills requirement of the locality. After the training, they help graduates find jobs or livelihood of their own. Poor students and out-of-school youths benefit from the scholarship program.
Through “focused-hiring,” TESDA provides skills profile and number of tech-voc graduates in a district which DOLE matches with companies that require manpower for specific skills. Popular courses for men are computer technology, cellphone repair, auto mechanic, electrical installation and maintenance, construction painting, masonry, heavy equipment servicing, carpentry and scaffold erection, while women prefer caregiving, dressmaking, breadmaking, culinary art, cosmetology, reflexology and food technology.
Data at TESDA showed that tech-voc graduates reached 1.5 million nationwide in 2012, 171,412 of them in Metro Manila. Some 803,350 graduates were issued National Certificates by TESDA as “Specialistas.” The certificate is a badge which attests that a graduate has passed the standards for workers in a specific occupation. More job bridging events are scheduled in Metro Manila and in the regions in the coming months to reach out to TESDA Specialistas.
We congratulate the Department of Labor and Employment headed by Secretary Rosalinda D. Baldoz and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority Director-General Joel J. Villanueva, in their coordinated efforts to develop a globally competitive workforce, through skills training in the Republic of the Philippines.

Source: Manila Bulletin - May 20, 2013