WITH the high cost of matriculation in the technical-vocational and college courses, students who finished senior high school or dropped out from collegiate level can actually consider Technical Educational Schools Development Authority (Tesda) or taking its online courses being offered for free.
The latest free service that the Tesda is offering to Filipino citizens for this year are online or internet based courses that will make skills development and technical education a lot more accessible to aspirants.
According to the Tesda website, the Tesda Online Program (TOP) is an open educational resource that aims to make technical education more accessible to Filipino citizens through the use of information and communication technologies.
TOP provides an effective and efficient way to deliver technical education and skills development services to a broader audience. Being online means it has a wide range of users and learners will incur lesser cost.
The program is created for students, out-of-school youths, unemployed adults, local and overseas workers, and professionals who would like to take Tesda courses at their own pace, in their own time, and at the comfort of their desktops or laptop computers.
So, how do I enroll in a course? In order to access the available courses in the Tesda Online Program website, you must first register an account.
For detailed steps on how to register and enroll in a course, please refer to the “How To” section of the website. This should be easy to most computer savvy internet users. On whether there is a fee to this course, the Tesda Online Program as mentioned in their site is available for free. There is no tuition required in accessing the courses.
Upon completing the requirements of the online course, do participants get a certificate of training after completing the online course? Tesda announces that they have developed the online courses to be accessible to as many Filipinos as possible and they are not yet giving any training certificate.
However, once the student enrollees finishes the program and they think they can already take the face-to-face assessment for National Certification at any Tesda, then they can be accredited and given certificates if they pass the assessment.
Tesda is also set to conduct a two-day National Assessment Day for technical vocational education and training (TVET) graduates and other interested workers in all accredited assessment centers nationwide on June 26 to 27.
Tesda director general, Sec. Guiling “Gene” Mamondiong was quoted saying that the assessment and certification will be free of charge as he encouraged all TVET graduates to avail of the service to enhance their employment opportunities and entrepreneurial prospects through Tesda certifications.
The registration actually started last May 21 in all Tesda District/Provincial Offices and accredited assessment centers and it will end on June 15.
Candidate-applicants for assessment are required to submit an application form, a Self-Assessment Guide (SAG), 3 passport-size colored pictures with white background to the nearest accredited assessment center or any Tesda city or provincial offices.
Here are some examples of the courses offered: Fruit Grower for agriculture – the course covers knowledge and skills required by bakers and pastry cooks (patissiers) to produce, fill, decorate, and present a range of specialized sponges and cakes, where finish decoration and presentation of a high order is required. This is a self-paced course is one of the competencies in Bread and Pastry Production NC II.
Another online course is Cookery NC II which consists of competencies that a person must perform/achieve including preparing hot, cold meals and desserts for guests in various food and beverage service facilities.
To attain the National Qualification of Cookery NC II, the candidate may apply for assessment in any accredited Assessment Centers, and must demonstrate competence in all units/clusters of core units of the Qualification.
A person who has achieved this qualification and awarded National Certificate (NC) is competent to be employed in any of the following positions in the Garde Manger, Pastry or in the Hot Kitchen Section as Cook or Commis and Assistant Cook.
Another online course that is food related is Food and Beverage Services NC II which consists of competencies that a person must achieve to provide food and beverage service to guests in various food and beverage service facilities. To attain the National Qualification of Food and Beverage Services NC II, the candidate may apply for assessment in any accredited Assessment Centers, and must demonstrate competence in all units/clusters of core units of the Qualification.
A person who has achieved this qualification and awarded National Certificate (NC) is competent to be employed as Wait staff or Food and Beverage Service Attendant. There is another course on “Introduction to Food and Beverage (F&B) Service” which covers topics that will help you understand the duties and responsibilities of a food and beverage service staff, the F&B department and its role in the tourism industry.
This course also consists of topics on preparing the F&B environment for service and handling complaints from the guests.
Let me enumerate the listing of Tesda Online Courses that has no Tuition Fee for 2018. These are: Agriculture - Fruit Grower, Automotive – Automotive Battery Servicing and Diesel Engine Tune Up, Electrical and Electronics – Solar Night Light Assembly, Entrepreneurship – Star Online Training Program and Managing Your Personal Finances, Human Health / Health Care - NC II: Massage Therapy (5 courses), Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration - Packaged Air Conditioner Unit Servicing.
For the Information and Communication Technology or ICT Courses, Tesda TOP offers Animation (3D Digital), Basic Computer Operation, SMART Android Mobile Apps Development for Beginners, SMART Technopreneurship 101, Web Development using HTML5 and CSS3.
Under the Microsoft Online Courses, offered for Game Development are C# Fundamentals for Beginners and Software Development Fundamentals. Others are Udacity Google Courses with Android Development for Beginners and UX Design for Mobile Developers, Udemy Courses for Android 4.0 Programming in Java.
For Lifelong Learning Skills, the Tesda TOP offers Job Interview Skills Training Course and How to Build Confidence in Your Abilities.
There are other online courses like Maritime – Ship’s Catering NC III, Social, Community Development and Other Services with Beauty Care Services Nail Care and Tourism.
In Baguio City, the Tesda office is located at 37 Military Cutoff Rd, Baguio, Military Cut-off Rd, and can be reached at (074) 661 1887 for inquiries. The TOP website can be accessed from the Tesda website at www.tesda.gov.ph.