TAGUIG CITY, July 12, 2019 – The Department of Education (DepEd) and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) establishing a Joint Working Group (JWG) to harmonize technical-vocational-livelihood (TVL) education and skills training in the Philippine basic education system.

Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones recognized the importance of working in synergy with TESDA.

“The President himself, during the last Cabinet meeting, recognized the importance and the role of TESDA, especially in our efforts to provide gainful employment for our young people, those who may not necessarily proceed to college or university education,” Briones stated. “This signing of the MOU merely formalizes what we have been doing together.”

Meanwhile, TESDA Secretary Isidro Lapeña expressed certainty that the partnership with the Department will be very productive: “We look forward to working with DepEd in building the TVL track in Senior High School (SHS) from this year onward. We hope that this continuing partnership will result in positive outcomes and will benefit also the future generations of SHS students.”

DepEd and TESDA are creating a JWG on technical-vocational education and training (TVET), comprising five members from each agency, who will be primarily in charge of recommending policies, decisions, or activities for the harmonization and complementarity of strategies, policies, and programs on TVE and skills training, consistency and quality assurance of training regulations (TRs) and standards, and discussion and resolution of concerns as may be raised by either party concerning TVET.

The group is also expected to have an agreement on common researches and innovation programs and a consolidation of trends and data pertinent to TVET.

DepEd Undersecretary and Chief of Staff Nepomuceno Malaluan likewise cited that the MOU aims to establish a more institutionalized platform for coordination to enable a more responsive provision of TVL education. He added that with this partnership, the quality of graduates would better meet industry needs.

“We need a strong coordination with TESDA on a number of issues. One is on the continuous review of our tech-voc offerings to make sure this is what the economy and industry need. We also have to ensure that our graduates and the graduates of TESDA adhere to common quality assurance standards,” Malaluan explained.

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