TESDA urged highschool students to consider TVET as a career choice

BAGUIO CITY-- The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority-Benguet Provincial Office has urged grade 10 students through career coaching to consider Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) as a career choice.

During the career coaching to grade 10 students of the Quezon Hill National High School, TESD specialist II Glenda Marquez discussed the different advantages of acquiring different skills, competencies imbued with the right values and attitude towards work.

“The industry needs workers who are willing to continue learning to be the best in their field or became entrepreneurs who would set up their own business and help themselves, even employ others,” said Marquez.

TVET enhances one’s productivity and employability. Likewise, highly technical skills are a must, but soft skills like critical thinking, innovation and communication are equally important to stay competitive in the workplace or for successful entrepreneurs who set up their own business.

Free TESDA Training Currently, TESDA offers scholarships such as the Training for Work Scholarship Programs (TWSP), Private Education Student Financial Assistance (PESFA), and Special Training for Employment Program (STEP), and Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act.

She explained that UAQTEA provides free tuition and other school fees in State Universities and Colleges (SUCs), Local Universities and Colleges (LUCs) and state-run Technical Vocational Institutions (STVIs), establishing the Tertiary Education Subsidy and Student Loan Program (SLP), strengthening the Unified Student Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education (UniFAST).

TWSP provides immediate interventions to meet the need for the highly critical skills for higher level of technology.

She said the program is in response to the clamor of the industry to address the shortage in needed critical skills, particularly the Business Process Outsourcing, metals and engineering, construction and tourism, among others.

PESFA is an educational grant given to marginalized but deserving students in post-secondary non-degree courses; while the STEP is a community-based specialty training program that addresses the specific skills needs of the communities and promote employment, particularly through entrepreneurial, self-employment and service-oriented activities.

The career coaching was held on July 24, 2019 at Middle Quezon Hill, Baguio City, with 169 grade 10 students participating. (TESDA-BAGUIO/BENGUET)