Senate adds ₱50M to TESDA budget to accredit 11,000 more assessors

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 26) — The Senate Committee on Finance has added ₱50 million to the budget of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) in order to accredit 11,838 new assessors, Senator Win Gatchalian said Sunday.

The new assessors will support the rollout of free assessment for 420,967 Grade 12 senior high school (SHS) students taking the technical-vocational-livelihood (TVL) track, Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, explained.

«Currently, TESDA has around 7,500-pool of assessors and to certify all our senior high school graduates, we need an additional 11,000,» he said.

«The ₱50 million proposal will increase the number of our assessors so that our senior high school graduates can be assessed and once they have the national certification, they can present that whenever they look for employment,» he added.

Figures from the senator's office said that in school year 2020-2021, only 32,965 out of 473,911, or 6.7%, of all SHS graduates from the TVL track underwent assessment for national certification. Around 97%, or 31,933, passed the assessment.

He also said 505 of SHS-TVL graduates are employed in elementary occupations, including street vendors, cleaners, domestic helpers, car washers, and street sweepers.

Gatchalian also proposed an additional ₱438.16 million for TESDA's Development Regulatory Program to further augment the assessment of SHS learners.