Quake victims to get skills training

Saturday, February 11, 2012

VICTIMS of the recent strong quake that hit the province of Negros Oriental will get over 400 scholarships ranging from wielding to commercial cooking, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) said on Saturday.

Some P5 million worth of scholarships has been allotted for Guihulngan City in Negros Oriental, one of the badly-hit areas in the 6.9-magnitude earthquake that struck the Negros and Cebu provinces last February 6.

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"We hope these scholarships will give them hope and encourage them to rise above this calamity," Tesda Director General Joel Villanueva said.

In Guihulngan City, at least two teams composed of experts in welding and metal fabrication services and home repair services were sent to go to affected areas and provide services to those who need help. More groups will be organized if the need arises, Tesda said.

The scholarship slots available are for the following courses: shielded metal arc welding (200); carpentry (50); masonry (50); plumbing (25); heavy equipment operation (HEO) payloader (25); HEO backhoe (25); commercial cooking (50); and enterprise information management (50).

Villanueva also issued a Tesda advisory for the immediate inspection of Tesda schools and training centers in Central Visayas particularly those that are being used as evacuation centers.

The advisory covered all private Technical and Vocational Institutes (TVIs) with registered programs with TESDA in Regions 6 (Western Visayas) and 7 (Central Visayas). There are 225 TVIs in Western Visayas and 268 in Central Visayas. (Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)