THE Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) has released P453,750 training allowance to 150 farmers from Makilala, North Cotabato for successfully completing Photovoltaic Systems Installation and Organic Concoction and Extracts National Certificate-II (NC-II) training.
The recipients of the training allowance released Wednesday, March 29, 2023, are members of farmers associations from the villages of Cabilao, Malasila, Santa Fe, Santo Niño, Malungon, Luayon, and New Baguio of Makilala, North Cotabato.
During the activity, 25 participants who have undergone a 36-day Tesda Alay ay Liwanag at Asenso (Tala) training received P6,750 and a set of solar light panel each.
The remaining 125 participants who undergone a six-day Organic Concoction training received P2,280 each.
The Photovoltaic Systems Installation is under the Tala project, which aims to provide solar energy light to far-flung communities considered as Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas (GIDAs).
Likewise, the Produce Organic Concoction and Extracts training further enhances the capability of farmers by promoting natural organic farming making farmers independent and lessen the use of synthetic and chemical fertilizers as well as increase their knowledge in terms of environmental awareness.
Melinda Seiga, President of Santo Niño Farmers Association expressed his gratitude to the government with the intervention,
“In behalf of our organization, we’re so grateful with the continuous assistance provided by the government especially this training that we acquired from Tesda to improve our competencies and skills. This will further help us to become sustainable and self-sufficient in the future,” Seiga said.
The eight villages where the farmers stay were once considered as conflict-affected areas brought about by communist insurgency but are now receiving numerous government-initiated interventions while simultaneously providing necessary training, knowledge and skill certifications which may also be used for future employment.
The two trainings were realized through the coordination with provincial government of North Cotabato, municipal government of Makilala, and Army’s 39th Infantry Battalion. (SunStar Zamboanga)