In fact, for this year’s graduates, 44 percent of them landed jobs both here and abroad, said TESDA Regional Director Juan Sabulao during the weekly media forum “Express it at the Park” held at the Leyte Park Resort.

“But we aim to increase that to at least 50 percent,” he said, referring to their average of graduates who find employment.

He, however, admitted that their projection depends on the availability of employment. “Job opportunities here in the region is not that big… compared to Cebu or Manila,” Sabulao said.

Sabulao said that the newly hired workers graduated from the nine technical and vocational courses of their agency in the region. Records of the TESDA showed that for this year, out of the 1,400 who finished various technical and vocational courses, 600 of them were able to land jobs both here in the region and abroad.

“We are not saying that technical-vocational graduates find jobs easily compare with graduates of four-year course. But based in our records, they can easily get hired or employed,” the TESDA chief said.

It was learned from Sabulao that as part of their effort to provide more employment to graduates of technical and vocational courses, they are intensifying their coordination with other government and private agencies.

“We are strengthening our employment facilitation with that of Department of Labor and Employment and their partner companies,” he said.

As this developed, the TESDA is also to avail the importance of the cyber highways as it launches a program dubbed as e-TESDA wherein various courses of technical and vocational are to be offered.

Under this new approach of the agency, is a program dubbed as “blending” wherein students need no longer have to visit the school but only have to access through the computers.

“The students will learn both the theoretical and practical aspects of their chosen course. This is actually, self-learning,” Sabulao said. “They will have a full actual work with the theory aspect learned from the web,” he added.

But for a start, the students who are to take advantage of this “blending” program of the TESDA, they can use the computer units available of the office instead of going to Internet cafes, Sabulao added.

“We are still in the process to negotiating with an Internet Café, at least here in the city, wherein the students can surf the computer in the course of their education,” he said.
It was learned that a specialized module had been designed by the agency for this “blending” program. Students are to have their daily lesson for four hours.

Among the courses available under this “blending program” include automotive, plumbing and refrigeration. Accounting technician (book keeping) is also soon to be part of the full on-line course.