DepEd to strengthen tech-voc high schools nationwide

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Education (DepEd), in coordination with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), will continue to strengthen 282 technical-vocational high schools it was currently supervising.

Education Secretary Armin Luistro said that tech-voc education carried a big potential in raising the quality of high school graduates in the country.

“DepEd believes that the tech-voc high school program will play a significant role in raising the quality of high school graduates in the country toward employment here and abroad or toward entrepreneurship. Through it, they can contribute more significantly to revenue generation, jobs creation, and to national development as a whole,” said Luistro.

DepEd continues to raise the quality of the tech-voc program through the provision of competency-based curriculum, teachers’ training, acquisition of physical facilities, development of instructional materials, provision of manpower requirement, and other logistics support.

It proudly noted that majority of its graduates are passing the skills assessment tests under the stringent certification standard of TESDA.

To date, DepEd supervises a total of 282 tech-voc high schools all over the Philippines where students can take specialization in automotive, computer hardware service, cosmetology, furniture and cabinet-making, garments, air conditioning and refrigeration, food production, crop production, food processing, fish culture, and fish capture, among others.

DepEd furthered that it is working hand in hand with TESDA in the operation of tech-voc high schools since TESDA is mandated to manage and supervise technical education and skills development in the country.

TESDA also serves as a national certifying body that seeks to determine whether the graduate or worker can perform to the standards expected in the workplace based on the defined competency standards.

Certification is provided to those who meet the competency standard to ensure the productivity, quality and global competitiveness of the middle-level workers.

Recently, TESDA Director General Joel Villanueva has been reviewing the performance of its accredited schools to close down fly-by-night institutions.

Amidst confusion that DepEd tech-voc schools are part of TESDA schools, DepEd explains that it has its own tech-voc curriculum under the Strengthened Technical-Vocational Education Program (STVEP) intended for high school students. But DepEd clarifies that this curriculum was developed with the assistance of TESDA.

STVEP essentially prepares students in various ways: for higher education; for immediate employment after high school since they already have the skills for livelihood; take short (one or two-year) post-secondary courses in technical education; or become an entrepreneur in their field of expertise.

“In short, it complements the government’s program for economic recovery and social uplift by addressing the job skill mismatch in our labor market and providing tech-voc high school students with the opportunities to acquire TESDA-certifiable technical, vocational, industrial and other relevant skills,” Luistro said. –Rainier Allan Ronda (The Philippine Star)