Techvoc graduates hit 6 M

MANILA, Philippines -  The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) yesterday reported a dramatic surge in the number of techvoc graduates in the country.

TESDA director general Joel Villanueva said the number of techvoc graduates has reached over 6 million for the past four years.

From July 2010 to June 2014, TESDA has recorded a total of 6,281,328 techvoc graduates. The figure was way above the 15 million recorded number of techvoc graduates from 1986 to 2010.

Villanueva said that for the past four years, the number of techvoc graduates assessed and certified also soared to historic high of over three million.

He attributed the growth in number of techvoc graduates to the high demand for skilled workers here and abroad.

TESDA graduates do not remain idle after training, but easily join the workforce either in the country or abroad, According to Villanueva.

He said employment rate of techvoc graduates was at 65.3 percent, the highest in the history of the agency.

Employment rate was higher at 91.4 percent for graduates of electronics and semiconductor program, while it was 70.9 percent for those finishing courses related to information technology-business process management.

Villanueva gave assurances that TESDA would continue its mandate of delivering quality and relevant technical vocational education to Filipinos.

“Slowly, we have unlocked the potential of technical vocational education, greatly reduced the social bias against it, and made its impact felt in tackling unemployment,” he said.

Villanueva said TESDA has also laid down the groundwork for the Philippine Qualifications Framework (PQF), which serves as the agency’s guide in preparing Filipino students into the labor force and harmonizes basic education, technical vocational education and higher education into a nationwide schedule of skills and competencies.

With the PQF and the competency-based technical vocational education and training system introduced in TESDA, Villanueva said students gain a clearer picture of the competencies they need for their job interests, while employers are able to easily identify the basic work skills their employees must possess.

Assessment and certification were given top priority as an essential component of post-training support to graduates to prepare them for employment.  

TESDA offices nationwide offer assessment services on a regular basis and those who pass the assessment are automatically issued a National Certificate that serves as their seal of excellence in their chosen field.