Cash for training project launched

IN SUPPORT to the government's thrust in providing sustainable intervention to improve the condition of disadvantaged youth and empower them through skills training and assistance toward gainful employment and entrepreneurial activities, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will implement the Cash for Training Project (C4TP) in two independent components -- Training for Wage Employment (Trabaho) and Training for Self-Employment (Hanapbuhay).

Lorela M. Ramos, regional youth focal person of DSWD, said the project aims to train the youth for possible employment in targeted communities and provide them the basic requirement to enable them practice their trade in gainful occupations.

She said the cash will cover training voucher, toolkits (for Self-Employment), assessment fee and allowance of P20,000 per beneficiary.

Ramos explained that the target beneficiaries are the youth participants who have been assessed as eligible under the Expanded Government Internship Program (Egip) of the DSWD, and the Pantawid Pamilya youth identified in coordination with the local government units.

In Davao Region, 3,291 total youth participants will benefit from the project, she said.

"The DSWD regional office has already downloaded the P65,820,000 total project cost to Tesda," she added.

To date, Tesda has already started the training in some areas while other youth participants are currently being processed for profiling of skills, while counseling is also being conducted to guide the participants in choosing the program/course most appropriate for them, Ramos added.