The transfer of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority to the Department of Labor and Employment as one of its attached agency from the Department of Trade and Industry is welcome development, according to TESDA director general Danilo Cruz.
The TESDA official stressed that the agency's return as an attached agency of the Labor department serves as a great opportunity to synergize the strengths of both agencies which will eventually address the perennial problem of skills-job mismatch.
"The two agencies can work together to beef up and expand TESDA and DoLE's employment facilitation programs," said Cruz, adding that it will enhance TESDA's implementation of its area-based and demand-driven TVET strategy.
Cruz — a former Labor undersecretary — cited the signing of Joint Memorandum Circular 001 of TESDA and DoLE to facilitate the employment and training of victims of the magnitude 7 earthquake that affected most of Northern Luzon last 27 July.
He added that both agencies will intensify the implementation of DoLE's Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers program that provides emergency employment for displaced workers, underemployed and seasonal workers.
With the transfer, the Apprenticeship Program of TESDA — part of its enterprise-based training "EBT to the Max" Program — will be strengthened anew.
The Apprenticeship Program is a training and employment program involving a contract between an apprentice and an employer that provides a mechanism to ensure the availability of qualified workers with the skills required by industries.
To recall, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. issued Executive Order 5 which formalizes the transfer of TESDA to the Labor department and under the order, TESDA becomes attached to DoLE for policy and program coordination, as "it is the policy of the national government to rationalize the functional structures of agencies with complementary mandates and promote coordination, efficiency and organizational coherence in the bureaucracy."
The executive order also states that the Secretary of Labor and Employment shall be the chairperson of the TESDA Board pursuant to Section 7 of the Republic Act 7796 or the TESDA Act of 1994.
