Senator Sherwin Gatchalian has proposed to allocate PHP79 million to provide scholarships for Technical Education and Skills Development Authority’s (TESDA) child development workers (CDWs) who have only completed high school.

“We want to, as much as possible, professionalize and upskill our CDWs. I thank TESDA for coming up with this national certification, specifically for child development workers,” he said as quoted in a news release on Friday.

Gatchalian, during the recent Senate interpellation on TESDA’s proposed budget for 2025, said 11,414 of the 68,080 CDWs nationwide hold only a high school diploma.

“Now we have to start somewhere, and we are proposing to allocate PHP79 million for the scholarships of child development workers,” he said.

He said the PHP79 million would be used for tuition and other school fees, stipend, book allowance, and certification and assessment fees for a National Certificate (NC) III course in early childhood education.

This funding, he added, would enable 2,854 of these CDWs to gain the necessary upskilling and reskilling opportunities to enhance their professional capabilities.

Gatchalian is also pushing for the upskilling of CDWs under Senate Bill 2575 or the Basic Education and Early Childhood Care and Development Alignment Act, which seeks to achieve universal access to early childhood education.

Under the proposed measure, incumbent CDWs shall be required to complete mandatory upskilling and reskilling training programs on early childhood education or early childhood care and development. Incumbent CDWs should also pass a certification from the TESDA, which shall provide the assessment and certification free of charge.

If signed into law, Gatchalian said, the country would need an additional 161,143 CDWs to support 4.6 million children aged three to four. (PNA)