Almost 9,000 government scholars who availed of the technical-vocational courses are now part of the country’s workforce as skilled workers.
Glenn Murphy, OIC regional director of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) in Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), said as of July 14, a total of 8,791 graduates of courses offered by the agency are now working either self-employed or working in various industries.
At least 5,889 are employed before upskilling and reskilling through TESDA scholarships while 2,903 were employed after obtaining skills training.
“TESDA-CAR continues to monitor the employability of its graduates through the scholarship program monitoring report,” he said in response to written queries of the Philippine News Agency.
In his fifth State of the Nation Address, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. underscored TESDA’s critical role in equipping Filipinos with industry-relevant skills.
He also emphasized the importance of skilling, reskilling and upskilling, which are aligned with TESDA’s continuing effort to prepare workers for emerging industries while addressing the manpower requirements of priority sectors in the region and the country.
He added that there were 6,202 who were provided scholarships for various skills in 2025 while 7,197 are listed beneficiaries as of June 30, with some of them still undergoing training and certification process that would allow them to receive a National Certification (NC).
“TESDA-CAR remains steadfast in supporting national development by producing competent workers equipped with industry-demanded competencies. The region continuously aligns its scholarship offerings with priority sector such as tourism, construction, agriculture, information and communications technology, health care, automotive, electronics, manufacturing and other emerging industries,” Murphy said.
He said they are closely working with industry partners, local government units and other stakeholders to ensure that training programs remain responsive to labor market demand and lead to meaningful employment and entrepreneurship opportunities.
“The President’s call to strengthen technical education and workforce development inspires us to further intensify our efforts in delivering quality, accessible and industry responsive technical-vocational education technology (TVET) programs. TESDA-CAR remains committed to ensuring that every scholarship translates into improve employability, higher productivity and better livelihood opportunities for every Cordilleran,” Murphy said. (PNA)
