Bacolod City – Former Negros Occidental 3rd district Representative Jose Francisco Benitez stood tall among other heads of various government agencies, as President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. cited the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), for it successful implementation of TechVoc programs, during his State Of the Nation Address, during the opening of 20th Congress on July 28.
In his SONA speech, President Marcos Jr. announced that about P60 billion will be allocated to fund free tuition for millions of students in TechVoc programs and public colleges.
Marcos Jr. highlighted the increasing number of scholarships awarded by TESDA. In 2024 alone, TESDA awarded more than 200,000 additional scholarships, enabling more Filipinos to gain job-ready skills and training.
He also noted that the Philippines now ranks second in the Southeast Asian region for youth enrollment in college and TechVoc programs.
Benitez, the TESDA director general, has lauded the support of President Marcos Jr. for Tech-Voc.
The President emphasized the renewed focus of the government in investing into education, not just in the tertiary level, but also in technical vocational education and training or TVET – providing a true Training to Trabaho pathway for Filipinos.
“Napatunayan na nating mabisa ang tech-voc (we have proven the effectiveness of tech-voc),” the President said.
TESDA reported that from January to December 2024, a total of 1,151,595 tech-voc graduates applied for assessment, and 1,081,375 were certified as skilled workers.
It added that there were over 1.2 million graduates of tech-voc courses in 2023, where 872,016 received certification as skilled workers.
At present, more than two million students benefit from the government’s free higher education program each year.
In his SONA last year, Marcos said eight of 10 TVET (technical and vocational education and training) graduates landed decent jobs. (Gilbert Bayoran via tvds)