Tesda approves 8 courses to hone skills of students

The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) has approved new training regulations for at least eight courses in the fields of jewelry making, land surveying and barbering.

Tesda Director General Joel Villanueva said last Friday after consultations with industry partners.

The Tesda Board promulgated a new roster of training regulations for Land Surveying NC II, Land Surveying NC III, Electric Power Distribution Line Construction NC II, Trainers Qualification Level I, Trainers Qualification Level II, Jewelry Making (fine jewelry) NC II, Jewelry Making NCII and Barbering NC II.

“We believe that there is a high demand for jobs in the fields of jewelry making, land surveying and barbering both in the Philippines and abroad,” said Villanueva.

“So in consultation with our industry partners, we have identified and approved the new roster of training regulations that it believes would offer more job opportunities and give tech-voc students wider career options to choose from,” he adde.

Villanueva said among the criteria that Tesda used in approving the new training courses include identifying the priority needs of a sector as endorsed by its industry partners and the nationwide application in terms of employment generation and investment opportunities.

“The field of land surveying is an unfamiliar terrain to some people in the Philippines but it is actually one of the in-demand jobs in other countries,” he said, “Young people also took note of how interesting and exciting a training in land surveying could be.”

For Land Surveying NC II, Villanueva said students will be taught how to locate and lay out positional information and determine land boundaries that require various types of land surveys.

For Land Surveying NC III, students will be trained to conduct land surveys for determining boundary lines and re-tracing public land survey corners.

Meanwhile, those interested in taking a training for the Electric Power Distribution Construction NC II, skills on how to erect distribution line poles, climb pole and install pole assembly, conductors, line equipment and devices as well as install consumer service connection facility. Line construction includes construction or extension of new distribution lines.

Quality technical vocational education and training will also need capable trainers. The Tesda Board approved training regulations for TVET trainers who will perform the job of teaching and assessing the students.

Under the Trainer Qualification NC I, the trainers will be taught to handle a learner or a group of learners on how to develop or perform a particular trade or technical work.

“The trainers who will take this training have to devote a lot of time, patience and support for their students, since the quality of tech-voc graduates will depend so much on their abilities to transfer the knowledge and skills to their students,” Villanueva said.

Also, those who will undergo the Trainer Qualification Level II will learn more about motivating students on how to achieve higher goals in their chosen trade and not simply focus on teaching the basic ropes of the trade.

Tesda also said training regulation on Jewelry Making (fine jewelry) NC II that will teach students on how to fabricate basic jewelry components, polish jewelry, plate jewelry and perform rubber mold making.

Villanueva noted that “Recently, there’s been a lot of interest in jewelry making because of its lucrative potential since it has a market base both here and abroad.”

“Many entrepreneurs would like to start up their own jewelry business but would like to have some training also, particularly young people who would like to do it on their own,” he said.

Under the Jewelry Making NC (fine jewelry) NC III, the students will be taught on how to construct, assemble and basically make fine jewelry by using precious gems or metals like gold, silver and diamond.

Another exciting course that is definitely in demand here and in other countries is barbering or the skill of cutting hair.

Unknown to many, there are a lot of job opportunities for barbers and salon stylists in the United States, Middle East and Brunei. There is a growing number of Filipinos who are taking up this course as an alternative to other tech-voc courses and after finishing the training they can apply for jobs abroad.

Under Barbering NC II, students are taught on how to cut hair and perform other grooming services for men such as, hair and scalp treatment, hair coloring, shaving and styling beard and mustache.

With the new array of training regulations that hold promise for fruitful job opportunities, Tesda hopes it can draw in more students, particularly those who cannot afford college education, so they can start to improve their lives and at the same time, help propel the economy to progress.

These training regulations will take effect 15 days after the Tesda Board Resolutions are published in newspapers of general circulation. All tech-voc institutions who will offer these courses will have to undergo the mandatory registration process under the Unified TVET Program Registration and Accreditation System (UTPRAS) of Tesda. –Jason Faustino, Daily Tribune