The provincial government of Cebu, in partnership with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), on Wednesday launched the “Sugbo Kahanas” program, which will provide Cebuanos free livelihood skills training.
TESDA Secretary Isidro Lapeña and Governor Gwendolyn Garcia signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) at the Capitol Social Hall to formalize their partnership.
The MOA defines the commitment of the provincial government to provide a total of PHP100 million to the Office of the Vice Governor and the 17 Provincial Board members for a decisive province-wide investment in skills development training for Cebuanos 15 years old and above who lost their jobs amid the pandemic and those who have not had any technical education or have not been a grantee of any technical training scholarship yet.
TESDA, by virtue of Republic Act 7796 or the TESDA Act of 1994, is committed to implementing its Special Training for Employment Program with 70 skills development programs such as welding, cookery, bread and pastry production, organic farming and food production, computer servicing, to name a few.
The MOA signing is witnessed by Vice Governor Hilario Davide III, 7th District Provincial Board Member Christopher Baricuatro who chairs the Higher and Technical Education Committee, TESDA-7 Director Andrew Bido, and TESDA-Cebu Director Floro Rinca.
Lapeña lauded Garcia for such expression of investment in human resource, saying it is heart-warming to find a local chief executive who is decisive in ensuring citizens are productive and integral in livelihood-generating activities toward economic resuscitation.
Sugbo Kahanas, he said, is a first in the entire country and patterned after other vital programs of the Capitol such as the Sugbo Negosyo and Sugbusog. It teaches Cebuanos not just to fish but how to fish in the hope that Cebuanos learn “how to live for a lifetime and not just to live by a day”.
Garcia said indeed, the program is a trailblazing effort and a milestone.
Sugbo Kahanas is geared at giving Cebuanos the opportunity to acquire a new skill and attain that all-important certificate from TESDA, the NC 11 – which also gives them the opportunity to get a job even overseas. (PNA)
