PHILIPPINE NEWS SERVICE — SKILLS training for maids is not mandatory, but is designed to help enhance their competence and be able to land better jobs abroad, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration said yesterday.
POEA Chief Rosalinda Baldoz allayed fears of domestic helpers, now called household service workers, that the skills training program under the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority will add to the burden of HSWs or the recruitment agencies.
“The certification one gets from this training would enable a household help to apply for a higher job level in hotels.”
HSWs must welcome the training program,” Baldoz said. “We are now adding more value to the skills of our HSWs.” The skills training includes basics of the English language.
But applicants for jobs overseas complained that training schools demand fees ranging from P10,000 to P15,000 per training.
Baldoz said Tesda does not have the power to regulate the training schools and institutions.
Tesda has come up with an alternative measure to give a free training program.
“We have bad experiences in the past. Many of those who have undergone training on care-giving are still jobless up to this very moment,” Baldoz pointed out.
She said Filipino maids in Hong Kong must not rally against the new $400 salary standard imposed by POEA effective Dec. 16 for first-time maids.
She said returning maids would be covered by the policy on March 1. “The board is taking into consideration all sides. For almost four decades, the salaries for domestic helpers had not been adjusted.”
She said recruitment agencies specializing in the deployment of domestic helpers must explore other job opportunities.