Saturday, June 02, 2007 Tech-voc in high school aimed to help dropouts By Grace L. Plata
THE continuing increase in the number of dropouts is what is pushing the Department of Education (DepEd) to improve teacher competencies in technical-vocational (tech-voc) courses, the DepEd said.
According to Dr. Susana Teresa Estigoy, assistant regional director of DepEd-Southern Mindanao, tech-voc teachers in local public schools trained with Technical Education Skills Development Authority (Tesda) to enhance the technical livelihood education subjects in the general high school as part of the refined basic education curriculum.
This is not only to guide those who are inclined towards these courses but also to give students livelihood skills should they be dropping out of school.
"Meron kasing mga estuyante (there were students) who enroll in the first year pero hindi na makatapos ng (but can’t finish) high school because of financial constraints kaya minabuti naming maaga silang ma-train para naman makapagtrabaho at may magpagkakakitaan sakaling di man sila makabalik sa pag-aaral (we thought it wise to train them earlier, so they can work and earn a living in case they can no longer continue their studies)," Estigoy said.
The teachers were trained in different specialties like automotive servicing, machining, building wiring installation, consumer electronics servicing, fish capture, animal productions, agri-crop production and food processing.
Estigoy said the program will be implemented in schools having the necessary equipment within the year.
