The Philippine Technical Education and Skills Development-Cordillera Administrative Region (TESDA-CAR) has successfully trained 1,112 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their family members with new skills.
These skills were provided to recipients under various scholarships of the government as assistance to the sector, Dante Navarro, regional director of TESDA-CAR, said recently while noting that for OFWs, the agency helps in the assessment of skills for the examination of national certification, which qualifies them for overseas placement jobs.
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The OFWs are assessed and issued a national certification so that they will return abroad with the required qualification and document, while their families are also entitled to receive scholarships from the government, he said.
Navarro said that in 2017, 47 OFWs or their families had availed of the assessment, 229 in 2018, 394 in 2019, and 346 in 2020, besides January to April 2021 witnessing 96 others being assisted by TESDA. Several OFWs — repatriated to the country when Covid-19 struck — also availed of the different skills training to acquire new skills.
Noting that having additional skills ensured more possibilities for a person to be hired, the sector can avail of available training to upgrade their knowledge or get a new one since TESDA had several programs that fitted the needs of the returning overseas Filipinos.
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While it has been mandated to provide assistance to fellow Filipinos — especially the OFWs, statistics showed that TESDA-CAR has a budget of PHP185 million for the scholarship program which includes Training for work scholarship program (TWSP), Special training for employment program (STEP), Rice extension service program (RESP), Universal access to quality tertiary education act ((UAQTEA) and Private education student fund assistance (PESFA). (AW)
