MANILA, July 23 (PNA)– Residents of select towns in Laguna had a taste of pampering and looking good without paying a peso on Thursday.
Thanks to technical vocational (tech-voc) training graduates, who were organized by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) at Barangay Mayondon in Los Banos to show off their skills and give free services to the community.
On the same day, in the cities of San Pedro and Calamba, a new batch of graduates received their training certificates and toolkits as they prepare to start a career.
“Our goal is having a pool of skilled workers coming out of the tech-voc education system, who are readily employable or geared up to earn on their own,” TESDA Director General Joel Villanueva said.
For a province labeled as one of the major economic hubs of the country because of its industrial estates, the steady supply of technical skills is vital, Villanueva added.
Villanueva motored from one city to another to attend the graduation ceremonies, and witnessed the provision of free services by tech-voc graduates, such as haircut, manicure and pedicure, and massage.
At Barangay Mayondon in Los Banos, TESDA also brought its Mobile Training Program (MTP) for those interested in courses in carpentry, plumbing and masonry.
The graduates were scholars of TESDA’s Training for Work Scholarship Program (TWSP) and the Special Training for Employment Program (STEP).(
TWSP provides immediate interventions to meet the need for highly critical skills, while STEP is a community-based specialty training program that seeks to address the specific needs of the communities and promote employment, particularly through entrepreneurial, self-employment and service oriented activities.(PNA)