TESDA Offers More Jobs, Livelihood to Displaced Marawi Workers

Some 10,000 internally-displaced persons (IDP) from Marawi City are expected to benefit from the Expanded Emergency Massive Skills Training Program (EEMSTP) which will be implemented by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). Director General/Secretary Guiling "Gene" A. Mamondiong said that the EEMSTP aims to create job opportunities and transform IDPs into construction workers by offering construction-related courses in line with the Task Force Bangon Marawi project which assists the government in rebuilding lives in Marawi City. The target beneficiaries of this program will be the IDPs in Marawi City, Lanao del Sur, Iligan City, Lanao del Norte and Cagayan De Oro City. They will be identified in coordination with the concerned local government units (LGUs), national government agencies (NGAs) and the Task Force Bangon Marawi. "In the interest of service and in order to immediately address the existing need of the Task Force Bangon Marawi for skilled workers in the construction sector and to continue assisting the government for disaster rehabilitation and recovery for rebuilding lives in Marawi City as a result of crisis brought by armed conflict, an Expanded Emergency Massive Skills Training Program for the Internally Displaced Persons from Marawi City is hereby adopted," said Mamondiong in a TESDA circular. These construction-related courses are Carpentry NC II, Masonry NC I, SMAW NC I, Electrical Installation and Maintenance NC II, Pipefitting NC II, and Heavy Equipment Operation (HEO). "The EEMSTP shall offer construction-related courses (cluster of competencies) that are in-demand in the area intended for the repair, reconstruction, and rehabilitation of houses and community infrastructures," Mamondiong added. In November 2017, TESDA offered courses to several IDPs in Marawi City. These courses were cake making (Leading to Bread and Pastry Production); dressmaking; massage therapy; Carpenty; prepare and cook hot meals (Leading to Cookery NC II); pastry making (Leading to Bread and Pastry Production); silk screen printing of t-shirt; prepare poultry and vegetable dishes (Leading to Cookery NC II) and agri-crops production NC II.