Tech-Voc Schools will Provide Opportunities to OSYs - Rep. Angara

Feb. 7, 2013 - PRLog -- House Bill 2840 mandates the establishment of at least one technical vocational and skills training center for each province and highly-urbanized city. These centers shall then train the OSYs on skill sets and training needs  that fit the requirement of the  domestic and overseas job market, said senior lawmaker Rep. Juan Edgardo M. Angara, author of the measure .

Angara, an administration senatorial candidate, said that the country’s more than 3 million OSYs have to be trained for mainstream jobs  and this agenda  can only be realized by stepping up the density and presence of technical vocational  schools and training centers throughout the country.

“The structural problem of unemployment, mainly the mismatch between job seeker and skill set, will be eased by the putting up of at least one technical vocational school for each province and highly-urbanized city,” said Angara, a proponent of several breakthrough education measures such as the Universal Kindergarten Education Act.

HB 2840 mandates provinces and highly-urbanized cities to put up training centers in coordination with the TESDA, or the Technical Education and Skills Development  Authority.

The measure mandates a dual system type of training that fuses theoretical and classroom instructions with actual plant exposure or hands-on, real-time training at the work sites.

Angara said that the present economy, with an impressive growth rate of 6.6 per cent last year, offers plenty of opportunities for skilled job seekers, such as those with skill sets for the booming business process outsourcing sector or BPO, the industrial, the agro-industrial and the agricultural and fisheries sectors.

According to the latest TESDA data, the recent P500 million release of President Aquino for BPO training had a placement average of 84 per cent and is still improving.

The Philippines is now the world’s largest base for voice BPO work.

Angara noted that several high-paying jobs employ college drop-outs with impressive skill sets. The BPO sector has been massively employing high school graduates and college drop-outs with language and technical skills he added.

“The current economy is a favorable context to empower the OSYs with the proper jobs skills. And there is also the opportunity offered by the overseas job market,” he said.