Senator Joel Villanueva lauded the signing of Republic Act No. 10970, which he authored, declaring August 25 of every year as “National Tech-Voc Day” to promote technical and vocational education and training in the country.
“We thank our President, our colleagues, and counterparts in the House of Representatives, for supporting the passage of this legislation that would uplift the morale and dignity of blue-collar workers in the country, whose jobs are still seen as second rate,” said Villanueva, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Labor, Employment, and Human Resources Development.
If we pay increased attention to tech-voc as a nation, we can harness its power in creating jobs, increasing our workers’ productivity, securing the future of our industries, and achieving inclusive growth and sustainable development.
“If we pay increased attention to tech-voc as a nation, we can harness its power in creating jobs, increasing our workers’ productivity, securing the future of our industries, and achieving inclusive growth and sustainable development,” the legislator added.
The lawmaker, former director general of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), said that technical vocational education and training in the Philippines has undergone major transformation since the creation of the agency on August 25, 1994.
“For the past seven years, over 13.5 million Filipinos graduated in various tech-voc courses, majority of them or 66.2% percent found employment locally and abroad,” the senator from Bulacan said.
“Our scholars even registered an employment rate of 70% from 28% in 2008 and has even reached 96.4% in specific sectors like the semiconductor and electronics industry,” the he noted.
Villanueva further said that tech-voc is recognized as an important pillar in the country’s overall human resources development strategy because it is rapid, flexible, jobs-oriented, competency-based and can easily lead people to jobs.
Highlighting the importance of tech-voc can help us face challenges, take advantage of opportunities, and widen the prospects of tech-voc system in the Philippines.
“We believe that highlighting the importance of tech-voc can help us face challenges, take advantage of opportunities, and widen the prospects of tech-voc system in the Philippines. Mabuhay po ang tech-voc graduates at skilled workers sa buong mundo!” he said.