Gender sensitivity is alive and well in tech-voc training

MANILA, Philippines — TESDA and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) signed last week in Makati City a letter of understanding for a partnership project in mainstreaming gender sensitivity and life skills in vocational training.

Signatories are TESDA Director General Joel Villanueva and Ugochi Daniels, country office head, UNFPA. They also signed the TESDA Annual Work Plan for the ongoing Youth, Employment and Migration Program (YEM).

This project builds on the accomplishments of the Gender-Responsive Economic Actions for the Transformation of Women (GREAT) Project where TESDA partnered with the Philippine Commission on Women and the Canadian International Cooperation Agency.

The GREAT Project aims to create and support a gender-responsive enabling environment for women’s economic empowerment, particularly those in micro enterprises.

Training of trainers

The TESDA-UNFPA partnership is focused on the training of trainers and development of training materials and gender sensitized curriculum. Initially, the project aims to capacitate trainers in four identified YEM sites and the 125 TESDA technology institutions and regional and provincial GAD focal persons.

The more than 20,000 trainers in public and private TVET institutions are also expected to benefit from this project.

The training modules and gender sensitized curriculum developed under this project will be endorsed by TESDA to the National GAD Council (NGADC) headed by former Senator Leticia Shahani for integration in all TVET qualifications with training regulations.

The YEM project aims to increase access of poor, young women and men to decent work through labor-market responsive, gender-sensitive and life skills-based delivery of TVET training programs. The project is being pilot tested in the provinces of Masbate, Antique, Agusan del Sur, and Maguindanao.

Gender sensitivity center

The TESDA Women’s Center (TWC) is now a prominent gender sensitivity training center in Asia. TESDA believes that gender-sensitive education is necessary for creating a fair and sustainable learning environment which is a basic principle in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD).

Gender equality in TVET assures that both women and men have equal opportunities for realizing their full potentials.

The TESDA-UNFPA partnership project will not only strengthen the gender mainstreaming efforts of TESDA but also help achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), particularly gender equality and women empowerment.

For more information on TESDA programs and services, call 887-7777, send SMS message 09174794370 (Globe) 09182738232 (Smart) or follow us in Facebook (TESDA, Sec Joel Villanueva TESDA) and Twitter (SecJOELngTESDA).