DOLE, TESDA formalize enhanced partnership for employment skills programs

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) have aligned their flagship programs to ensure that every technical-vocational scholar seamlessly transitions from the classroom straight into a stable job or a fully funded community enterprise.

The two agencies formally reinforced their partnership following the ceremonial signing of the Supplemental Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) held on Wednesday, 24 June, at the TESDA Board Room in Taguig City.

DOLE Secretary Francis Tolentino and TESDA Secretary Kiko Benitez led the signing of the agreement, underscoring both agencies’ commitment to strengthening convergence in employment facilitation, livelihood support, and technical vocational education and training (TVET) programs.

Benitez emphasized that the strengthened DOLE-TESDA partnership is designed to ensure that government interventions translate into real opportunities for Filipinos.

“This strengthened effort alongside DOLE builds the seamless pathways we aim for Training to Trabaho. We want to make sure that Filipino learners and workers are not left on their own after training. Dapat bigyan natin sila ng gabay at daan papuntang trabaho,” he said.

"Tech-voc offers the shortest runway to employment. Kaya naman sa TESDA, kayang kaya ang trabaho agad," the TESDA chief added.

Likewise, Tolentino, who also serves as Chair of the TESDA Board, made his first official visit to TESDA since his appointment as DOLE Secretary, marking a renewed engagement between the two agencies under his dual role.

Tolentino, in his speech, said the partnership serves as a "catch-all Filipinos magnet" that will include those belonging to the non-formal, informal economic sector as well as the formal.

"What we are doing here is uniting the strength of a family agency that will provide a broad opportunity for Filipinos, especially our young people, to have the opportunity to train and eventually one day to have a business," Tolentino said.

"What you are seeing now is an opportunity and an emergency solution. We are now upgrading to a concept that will produce not just temporary employment but a long-term solution to underemployment or unemployment utilizing the skills training provided by TESDA," the DOLE chief added.

The signing marks a significant step in strengthening institutional convergence between the two agencies, building on Joint Memorandum Circular No. 001, Series of 2024, which first established a unified framework for coordinating employment facilitation, livelihood support, and TVET programs.

"We signed today this agreement with lots of hopes and aspirations for all our youth. I hope this will be a success not just in the coming weeks and months. I hope this will be a long-term program of our government," Tolentino said.

The newly signed Supplemental JMC enhances the operationalization of this partnership by introducing clearer systems and mechanisms designed to improve program delivery and ensure more efficient, coordinated, and targeted services for Filipino workers and communities.

A key feature of the agreement is the establishment of a structured referral pathway, or “graduation system,” that enables the seamless movement of beneficiaries across government programs. This system supports pathways toward sustainable employment or livelihood, such as transitioning TUPAD beneficiaries into TESDA scholarship programs and job placement opportunities, or advancing TESDA STEP graduates to DOLE’s Integrated Livelihood Program (DILP).

The agreement also strengthens accountability through an Anti-Double Dipping Policy, which sets clear safeguards and verification processes to ensure that beneficiaries do not simultaneously avail of similar forms of assistance from both agencies, thereby promoting fairness and optimal use of public resources.

To further support inclusive enterprise development, the Supplemental JMC introduces Community-Based Enterprise Groups, also known as “Tropa sa Negosyo at Trabaho,” which organizes groups of at least five individuals with complementary skills into collective enterprises aimed at improving productivity, sustainability, and market access.

In addition, the two agencies will implement a data sharing framework through a shared digital registry that will enhance beneficiary tracking, eligibility validation, and joint monitoring and reporting, building on the existing data sharing agreement between the two agencies.