About 860,000 technical vocational graduates who are now holders of National Certificates by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority for 2013 are part of the agency's target for the year which it exceeded.

TESDA's goal was as at 850,000 graduates, a government press release said.

The figure is expected to increase once the December reports from its regional offices reach the central office.

TESDA Director-General Joel Villanueva said these are graduates who passed the assessment and are now certified TESDA specialistas and a number of them, are already employed, especially those who finished their courses earlier.

Meanwhile, a total of 576,748 students from July 2010 to November 2013 were enrolled through TESDA's Training for Work Scholarship Program.

The agency said six out of 10 of its graduates were able to find employment within six months to one year after graduating.

In the IT-BPO sector, some 75,479 completed the training from the 75,682 individuals who enrolled which resulted to a 70.7 percent employment rate.

Around 85 percent of TESDA graduates are already employed in the electronics and semi-conductors industry, the press release said.

The agency has also enhanced the capability of tech-voc trainers nationwide as some 5,413 trainers underwent training in methodology to improve their teaching techniques to deliver quality programs.

TESDA had also established a human resource development center which aims to offer courses in animation and digital arts with state-of-the art and latest equipment and software technology from the government of South Korea.

The facility was a product of an international technical cooperation between TESDA and the South Korean government to address the manpower gaps for highly critical and emerging skills.

The agency has also been ISO certified for its processes in program registration and assessment and certification which makes it the first national education agency to pass the international quality standards.

The certification covers TESDA's central office and majority of its regional and provincial offices.

TESDA is now working on the certification of all its remaining regional and provincial offices for 2014, according to Villanueva.

The agency is also pushing for the enactment of the apprenticeship bill which seeks to reform the country's apprenticeship program to ensure a steady supply of skilled workers particularly in priority industries and help ease the problem of youth unemployment.

The program will provide the youth with the essential competencies and access to employment through training to be given within the premises of participating enterprises.

The proposed measure intends to recognize qualifications with training regulations promulgated by TESDA as “apprentice-able” to meet the immediate requirements of enterprises for skilled workers.

It will also emphasize the need for theoretical instructions alongside the actual training at work.

The apprenticeship period will be based on the complexity of the skills to be learned by the apprentices as indicated in TESDA's training regulations.

Trainees can take the competency assessment test after the training and be a certified TESDA graduate.*PNA

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