[av_one_full first min_height=” vertical_alignment=” space=” custom_margin=” margin=’0px’ padding=’0px’ border=” border_color=” radius=’0px’ background_color=” src=” background_position=’top left’ background_repeat=’no-repeat’ animation=”]
[av_heading heading=’PEOPLE POWWOW | Where learning and earning go together’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY HERBERT VEGO
[/av_heading]
[av_textblock size=” font_color=’custom’ color=”]
Sunday, April 23, 2017
[/av_textblock]
[av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”]
THERE were times in the past when this writer castigated the Department of Education for imposing its K-12 program adding two more years of high school on the pretext that it would better prepare high school students for college; also, that senior high school graduates could opt to work henceforth.
I beg to disagree, especially with regard to high school graduates joining the technical-vocational workforce. For the vocationally-inclined, the additional two years in high school could have served a better purpose when spent at any training center of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) or any of its accredited schools.
Fortunately, the incumbent TESDA secretary general, Guiling Mamondiong, has allowed 4th year high school finishers to proceed to TESDA, thus saving time and money. For those who want to earn money while literally working for a national certificate, there’s a special program known as the Dual Training System (DTS). What’s unique here is that students don’t pay tuition but, on the contrary, earn allowance that’s almost equivalent to the minimum daily wage. It is a strategy aimed at speedy development of skilled labor in the country.
The DTS is an instructional mode of delivery for technology-based education where trainees spend at least 40 percent of the training/learning time in school and 60 percent for practical training in the company. It’s not really a new concept but a take-off from the German model that was first tested in the Philippines in the 1980s as a joint project of the Southeast Asian Science Foundation and the Hanns Seidel Foundation at Dualtech Training Center.
An existing agreement between TESDA and Germany’s Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training assures Filipino workers who desire to work in Germany competitive advantage.
I personally witnessed last Thursday the commencement exercise that saw 43 DTS graduates marching up the state of TESDA’s regional training center in Iloilo City to receive their national certificates from Regional Director Toni June Tamayo. They had immersed themselves in one-year training with allowance in various construction-related courses like painting, plumbing, masonry, carpentry, tile setting and scaffolding erection in various vertical projects of the Makati Development Corporation (MDC) at the Atria Business Complex.
The graduates represented the first batch of trainees at the Golden Heroes School of Trade in Mandurriao, Iloilo City. In a chit-chat with this writer, Alvin James Guinto and Jefferson Quiamco – president and vice president, respectively – said that the Golden Heroes graduates would now be in position to work for bigger income with the Ayala-owned MDC. There are still a dozen “towers” to be constructed at Atria.
In his inspirational talk, Regional Director Tamayo remarked, “You are more equipped than any other graduates, considering that you did not only learn about theories but you were able to have practical application of theories during your on-the-job trainings. You were not only taught about carpentry, but you experienced being carpenters. Graduates of other schools may even be clueless on what happens in the workplace. But you are well aware of because you have spent weeks or months in the field.”
He enjoined the new skilled workers to “be a symbol of hope and inspiration to your fellow Ilonggos who are dreaming of a better future.”
Last Friday, a new batch of 21 DTS registrants underwent “training cum production” — focusing on a single competency – at another mall of Gaisano City.
Because of the construction boom in Iloilo City, the door is still open for TESDA’s Dual Training System for potential manual laborers aged 18 and above. May your tribe increase. (hvego@yahoo.com/PN)
[/av_textblock]
[/av_one_full]
