JPMorgan Chase Foundation and Asia Society for Social Improvement and Sustainable Transformation (ASSIST) have launched Project SustainABILITY which aims to engage more than 18,000 technical vocational students in its two-year projected run.
The project will design a “comprehensive and industry-relevant curriculum and pedagogy” that will equip students and teachers from technical vocational institutions (TVIs) with green skills in construction, metals and engineering, automotive and land transportation, agriculture, forestry, and fisheries.
In the next two years, it aims to engage 20 TVIs in partnership with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).
Program Director Francis A. Macatulad said ASSIST, is working with TESDA to attain the projected 5.10 million jobs in the green industry.
“We will be working closely with the schools, with academic partners, and our industry advisory committee to align and improve the programs and curricula so that we can address the proper knowledge needed by an industry,” he said.
So, we will be developing a lot of modules and learning materials to prepare our students for the world of work, for the future of work,” Mr. Macatulad added.
Meanwhile, TESDA Deputy Director for Special Concerns Vidal D. Villanueva III said “There is a pressing need for a more robust monitoring and evaluation mechanism to accurately assess Republic Act 10771 (Green Jobs Act of 2016) impact on our society.”
The slow development of green skills in the Philippine workforce can be attributed to the lack of access to information and access to training and resources, Mr. Vidal said.
Philippine Chamber of Commerce Human Resources Development Foundation, Inc. President Alberto P. Fenix, Jr. said companies ought to provide in-house training for prospective employees since even those certified by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) often struggle to adjust to their roles.
“We have now finalized our goal of what we call the PCCI Education and Training System, or PET system for short,” Mr. Fenix said.
“Here we have already identified four sectors. Agriculture, construction, IT, and the fourth one is tourism and hospitality. We are now writing the PET program manuals on the qualifications, the priority qualifications in those four sectors that we see.” — Chloe Mari A. Hufana
