By PHILIPPINE INFORMATION AGENCY

THE Pangasinan training center of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority has been producing graduates who are in demand here and abroad, the TESDA provincial head said Tuesday.
A construction firm which has tied up with TESDA has been hiring successful trainees in welding for placements here and abroad, according to Ponciano Catipon, Jr., TESDA provincial director.
“Kumbaga parang hotcake ‘yong mga trainees namin sa welding at pinagaagawan,” (It’s like our trainees in welding are hot cakes much sought after) he told the Pantongtongan Tayo radio program of the Philippine Information Agency over Radyo ng Bayan-DZMQ.

The center, the largest provincial training center in the country that can compare to a regional center, also conducts training in automotive, refrigeration, practical electricity, and computer operations, he said.

The advantage of the trainees in welding is that they already receive allowance courtesy of the construction firm which has tied up with TESDA, he said. The only hitch, he noted, is that the trainees are bound to work for that company after training and cannot apply with other firms.

Trainees need to complete at least 200 hours to be given certificates.

Meanwhile, TESDA lately implemented the Free Assessment Service of TESDA (FAST) program that will help Filipinos gain better employment opportunities in the country and abroad.

Under the program, TESDA will now issue the Household Services National Certificate for free to household service workers.

Normally, Catipon said, assessment certificates issued by vocational or technical institutions are worth P1,000.

Initially, 13 TESDA technology institutions nationwide are implementing FAST for household service workers to include soon TESDA Pangasinan.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration has required household service workers for deployment to obtain TESDA-issued assessment certificate. It is part of a series of reforms by POEA to upgrade work standards and to safeguard the welfare of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

With better skills, OFWs can demand higher wages, it was pointed out.