Monday, October 29, 2007 Gamale: Meeting demands of industries By Mafel Joan Negrido-Gamale Tesda Way
IT was just one of those Fridays but I found myself waking up earlier than usual for Tesda Para sa Bayan, Tesda XI's 7-8 a.m. radio program over DXGN 89.9 FM.
Maybe I was just excited because I would have a guest that morning who, I was told, I would like immensely. This guest was to talk about Welding, a course that is becoming more and more popular each day.
Since Tesda is known for technical-vocational education, skills training programs, and human resource development, I can also talk about Masonry, Automotive Technology, Food Processing, etc., which means I can also have masons, auto-mechanics and cooks and bakers, etc. as guests in our radio program.
Lourdes Y. Perez has been the newest Welding Trainer to join the teaching force of the Korea-Philippines Vocational Training Center (KPVTC) in Buhisan, Tibungco, Davao City. She is of course certified competent -- a holder of Tesda's National Certificate Level II and is actually an own product of KPVTC.
And if that is not amazing enough, Des is a registered Medical Technologist who once practiced her profession. As we breezed through the one-hour program, the 35-year-old Des talked about how she fell in love with Welding.
Her passion for her new-found career was contagious enough that even before we ended the very informative one-on-one interview on air, I was already determined to enroll in Welding pretty soon.
Des stumbled upon Welding by accident. She went to Tesda XI regional office, supposedly to request a training coupon for her cousin, but when the said cousin eventually lost interest, Des readily availed of the free training instead and later took the competency assessment and passed, thus earning her national certificate.
Having availed of the free training has brought Des to where she is now. She is immeasurably enjoying her stint as one of the Welding trainers of KPVTC where she has trainees who are older than her. Many of her trainees are professionals, some are even registered engineers.
Looking back, Des is grateful that there is President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's Training for Work Scholarship (PGMA-TWSP) which is implemented by Tesda, for it made her finish Welding at no cost.
The PGMA-TWSP provides training coupons for "near-hires" - people who are already employable but still need a little enhancement of their skills. The "near-hires" present their training coupons at schools offering Tesda-registered finishing courses in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry like the Call Center (100 hours), Medical Transcription (160 hours), and other industries with critical skills requirements like the Shielded Metal Arc Welding (304 hours), Gas Metal Arc Welding (80 hours), and Household Services (40 hours).
The schools will in turn present the training coupons at Tesda for collection of payment.
The PGMA-TWSP has been conceptualized to ensure that quality workers are produced to meet job openings in industries. For this endeavor, President Arroyo has allocated P500 million for CY 2007 alone. And there will be more next year.
At the moment, the PGMA-TWSP has only 1,607 availers in Region XI as of September 20, 2007.
There are more slots available and once these scholarship slots are availed by would-be workers, we can ask for more slots from our central office.
The scheme hopes to provide skills and competencies to job seekers through appropriate training programs that are directly connected to existing jobs for immediate employment.
It is also seen as a program that will empower private education and training institutions to offer relevant training programs that really meet job requirements.
Des saw the opportunity and grabbed it right away. You can do the same by availing of our scholarship slots on PGMA-TWSP.
Who knows? A month from now, you might just become one of the best call center agents, or most sought-after medical transcriptionists, or finest household service workers, or exceptional welders our country can ever have.
