THE Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) will field 1.8 million graduates for 2023 with fresh funding for existing learners.
Through Tesda’s director general Danilo P. Cruz, the agency welcomed the Department of Budget and Management’s (DBM) recent approval for the release of a P3.410-billion allotment for the former’s Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act (UAQTEA).
Said appropriation is higher than the P2.910 billion earmarked for last year.
“The budget allocation to Tesda for the implementation of UAQTEA, which is higher this 2023 compared to the previous years, is crucial in providing tech-voc [technical vocational] training to Filipinos, specifically to those who cannot afford to go to college,” Cruz said.
The Tesda chief likewise clarified that the agency is still requesting for an additional budget to cover the cost of training for new entrants to the program.
Meanwhile, Tesda’s deputy director general Aniceto D. Bertiz III said that higher-level tech-voc education and training (TVET), or three-year diploma programs, are being financed under the UAQTEA.
Bertiz, as the agency’s spokesperson, added that scholars under the act are privileged with free tuition and miscellaneous fees, as well as trainee support such as costs for national competency assessment, learning materials, year-round accident insurance, and a training support fund.
The diploma programs also offer workers and tech-voc graduates more ways to level up their qualifications, or further their studies in college. They will eventually become technologists, technicians, and supervisors—all needed to help revitalize the local economy, according to Tesda.
Data from the agency revealed that there are more than 500 diploma programs being implemented by public and private institutions.
The agency has a total of 4,526 graduates of three-year diploma courses in 2022, including those in electrical-engineering technology, mechanical-engineering technology, automotive technology, agricultural technology, hotel- and restaurant-management technology, as well as information technology, among others.