TESDA Complex, Taguig City
14 June 2016
President Benigno S. Aquino III cited the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) as one of the flagship government agencies that made positive changes in the lives of the Filipino people for the past six years of his administration.
As the President received the TESDA accomplishment report from 2010 up to 2016, he highlighted TESDA’s contributions in opening many opportunities that alleviated the unemployment rate throughout the country, saying the agency is a strong proof that Filipinos can do better once given better chances in life.
With the many programs that TESDA is offering, President Aquino remained positive that it would continue providing countless jobs to those in need. To date, there are about 10 million Filipinos that graduated from TESDA. They include scholars of the Sari-sari Store Training and Access to Resource or STAR program, where around 43,000 scholars have been trained in bookkeeping, inventory management, and accounting. These trainees earn PhP 4,000 per day.
He mentioned several TESDA scholars that proved the agency’s legacy, such as Christina Reyes, a former overseas Filipino worker (OFW) who now owns five spa branches, and Mark Escora, a former jeepney barker who is now an escalation manager in a BPO company in Bacolod City.
As such, the employment placement rate for the Training for Work Scholarship Program reached 72 percent, compared to the 28.5% of TESDA scholars before.
“Ito nga po ang ibig sabihin natin ng pagsagad sa oportunidad na bumubukas na sa ating bansa. Ang maganda po dito, may kakayahan tayong panatilihin at ipagpatuloy ang mga programang ito,” President Aquino said.
Likewise, he called on the nation to continue being the safeguards of this progress, saying it is a collective effort for all the Filipinos to ensure that this growth and development is permanent.
“Malinaw po: Lahat ng nakamit nating tagumpay ay bahagi lamang ng malawakan nating pagsisikap na tuparin ang ating panata: Ang iwan ang ating bansa sa mas magandang sitwasyon kaysa sa ating dinatnan,” President Aquino ended.
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