21 Kabalikat awardees vying for top honors

Twenty-one regional awardees of the prestigious Kabalikat Awards are vying for top national honors.

The winners will be announced by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) during its 10th anniversary celebration on Aug. 25, with President Arroyo invited to grace the awarding rites.

The National Kabalikat Awards gives recognition to the exemplary achievements of the private and public sectors in developing technical-vocational education and training (TVET), according to Dr. Alcestis Guiang, TESDA director general.

"Such achievements contribute significantly to the promotion and development of the country’s TVET program for middle-level manpower in the area of skills training, assessment and certification, and inculcation of proper work attitude and values," Guiang said.

"These contributions are very vital to the country’s effort of raising national productivity and developing a sound economy," she added.

The awards come in three categories — Institution, Local Government Unit (LGU) and Industry.

Vying for the national award under the Institution category are regional awardees Manpower Skill Training Center, Don Bosco Technical Institute, TODO Foundation Inc., Association of Public and Private Technical Education and Training Providers of Cavite Inc., Palawan Conservation Corps, Marbel Institute of Technology Inc., United Nations Children Fund, Philippine Livelihood Marketing Corp., Colombo Plan Staff College for Technician Education, and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Under the LGU category are the provincial governments of Pangasinan and Antique; the municipalities of Naguilian of Isabela, Labo of Camarines Norte, Sibulan of Negros Oriental, and San Isidro of Davao Oriental: the city of Butuan, and party-list Anak Mindanao of Region 9.

Under the Industry category are the Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining Corp., Union Cement Corp., SM Foundation, and Korea International Cooperation Agency.

The Kabalikat Awards also aims to recognize the best practices adhered to by industry/companies and TESDA’s institutional partners in TVET.

These partners include the 3,398 TVET providers being administered by TESDA nationwide, 1,797 of them school-based and 1,601 non-school-based.

Of the 1,797 school-based TVET providers, only 200 are public and the rest private. And of the 1,601 non-school-based providers, only 62 are TESDA-run regional and provincial training centers.

Nonetheless, TESDA oversees, regulates and sets the education standards of all TVET providers in coordination with industries, local governments and other concerned sectors.

The objective is to ensure that the TVET providers will produce graduates who can meet the actual competence requirements of industries, the market and the economy.