THE Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) Baguio-Benguet Provincial Office has recently started a community-based training (CBT) program that focuses on food sustainability.
Vilma Cabrera, Tesda provincial director for Baguio City-Benguet, said the first CBT program conducted was on urban organic farming. Government employees of Baguio City were the first trainees.
“Benguet province has also undergone this training program that also focused on agriculture. This was what we saw that would fit the needs of the city and the province of Benguet aside from our poverty reduction program, with four batches of the implementation of the Project Silas for Benguet,” Cabrera said.
Urban organic farming training spans five to 10 days.
Other programs offered by Tesda include pedicure, manicure and haircut training for interested beneficiaries. Its massage training program is still on hold as it entails physical contact.
“This CBT program has been conducted in barangays that have appropriate facilities in observing the requirement for social distancing and health protocols--which Tesda strictly follows,” Cabrera said.
Among the priority recipient beneficiaries are returning overseas Filipino workers.
Meanwhile, close to 70 percent of schools have registered with Tesda’s flexible learning delivery program through its online registration process.
“Since our scholarship programs restarted, we are just waiting for the approval of the scholarship programs, which will be forwarded to recognized schools for the conduct of flexible delivery that they will start," Cabrera said.
The usual number of training days will still be followed depending on the program, which may have an online, modular and face-to-face learning.
"We cannot compromise the nominal duration of the training programs,” Cabrera said.