By Lily O. Ramos
MANILA, Aug. 25 (PNA) — Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr on Tuesday said he will propose to members of Congress to craft a bill upgrading Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) to the level of the Department of Education (DepEd) and Commission of Higher Education (CHED).
In his speech at the TESDA Auditorium in Taguig City, Coloma said the Agency should has been doing a fine job of educating world-caliber technical-vocational graduates who have greatly reduced the country’s unemployment problem since Director General Joel Villanueva took over in July 2010.
“TESDA fasttracked training, skills development and proper preparation for jobs in a short time to answer the needs of industries and businesses that could not be met a largely academic number of graduates. In fact, by the time President Benigno Aquino III landed at Malacanang more than five years ago, only 30 percent of the job hires were qualified in the business processing operations as well as other crafts and trade. TESDA corrected the job mismatch,” said Coloma during the “2015 Idols ng TESDA at Kabalikat Awards Araw ng Parangal” held at the TESDA Auditorium in Taguig City.
Coloma recalled that having been a Don Bosco student in his elementary and secondary years, he was taught how to handle and repair machines, do drawing and drafting aside from meaningful projects.
“This is what TESDA been doing in a greater, better scale with much success and expanded coverage which is helping the country push towards industrial and commercial economic success,” he said in Filipino.
Touching on his college years at the University of the Philippines (UP) during the turbulent First Quarter Storm where his batch barricaded the State University and declared for a UP Commune, he recalled that one of their cause of rebellion is for the council to survey the Philippine education where mainstream technical education was a vital component in the 70s.
“I am sorry that we stopped what have made us among the most progressive countries in Asia. But this time, TESDA has done it since 2010 and I salute Joel Villanueva for his efforts to cleanse the Agency and become a helpmate in labor upgrade as well as general progress,” he said.
Coloma and Villanueva later awarded plaques of recognition to several categories including TESDA Institutional partners, Industry partners, Local and government unit partners, Legislative Partners, Development Partners and National government agencies. (PNA)