The Technical Educations and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) is looking forward to the faster implementation of its scholarship programs once the approval of their qualification maps will now be at the level of the regional director and no longer at their central office.

“The direction of the new DG (Director General) is towards decentralization, regional offices are empowered to approve qualification map or scholarships,” said TESDA Capiz provincial director Rick Abraham who attended the courtesy meeting with the new Director General Danilo Cruz in an interview on Monday.

He added the decentralization was one of the topics that they discussed during their meeting last week.

While the approval for the program will be at the regional level, he said there will be no changes in terms of identifying their potential scholars, which is through the community training and employment coordinator (CTECs) or walk-in.

Meanwhile, Abraham said that on July 29, they started the implementation of the 34-day Special Training and Employment Program (STEP) for tailoring with additional three days for entrepreneurial training for 25 selected out-of-school youths in Jamindan, Capiz.

“This will give them livelihood because they already have kits after finishing their course. They were chosen through our community training and employment coordinator,” he said.

In the afternoon, TESDA released tool kits for 25 graduates each of Masonry and 25 Electronic Product Assembly Servicing National Certificate II (NC II).

On July 29, they conducted an orientation of 25 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) who are recipients of the Organic Agricultural Production NC II in the municipality of Panit-an also in Capiz in coordination with the Department of Agrarian Reform.

They proceeded to the town of Tapaz on the same day for the distribution of tool kits for 50 graduates of the Carpentry. (PNA)