Palace offers outsourcing training to universities

THE Palace is considering spending P1 billion to train students and faculty in state universities and colleges to work in call centers and other outsourced services, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said Thursday.

Abad, criticized for cutting funding to state universities, said he had already submitted a feasibility study on the program to President Benigno Aquino III, and that it would take three months to carry out.

He said “a little over a billion pesos” would be required to train about 62,000 potential applicants with a guarantee that about 37,000 will be hired.

“We have in fact submitted to the President an additional budget of P500 million [for this purpose],” Abad told reporters.

He did not itemize the spending or fund sources, saying only that the amount would be used by lead agencies such as the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, the Commission on Higher Education, and the Education Department, which will carry out the program in partnership with the business process outsourcing industry.

“This is on top of what is going to be provided in the General Appropriations Act,” Abad said.

“We will include them as part of the additional expenditures that we have put together, that the administration is going to implement over the next three months to further accelerate the government’s spending program.’’ –Maricel Cruz, Manila Standard Today