Through government subsidies private education

through
government subsidies
• Private Education Student Financial Assistance
(PESFA)
Since 1997, TESDA has been implementing this
program. Scholarship slots are distributed equitably to
the 212 congressional districts in the country based on
the number of high school graduates of the prior year
and the provincial poverty index. In addition to passing
an aptitude test administered by TESDA, the scholars
are pre-qualified on the basis of their family income
and average grade in high school. TESDA has since
provided opportunities to 138,000 poor but deserving
Filipino youth through this program.
• PGMA Training for Work Scholarship Project
(PGMA-TWSP)
This project is designed to directly intervene in
provision of training for highly critical skills, and, to
encourage private TVET providers redirect their
training programs to skills that are most needed by the
economy. Scholarship grants are in short courses
specifically in the business process outsourcing (BPO)
industry and other industries with highly critical skills
such as Agri-Business, Aviation, Construction, Cyber
Services, Medical Tourism (Wellness Sector), and
Metals and Engineering.
• Technical Education Skills Development
Projects (TESDP)
These refer to two scholarship programs, namely: the
Jobs-Directed Scholarship Program (JDSP) and ADB-
TESDP Scholarship Program are being implemented
by TESDA under a loan package funded by Asian
Development Bank for the past two years. Similar to
the PESFA, these programs aim to provide poor but
deserving youth access to tech-voc education. To date,
around 25,000 persons have been provided
scholarships. The program will culminate in 2007
when the ADB will be completed.
d. GAD in TVET
The commitment on the Convention on the Elimination
of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and
Beijing Platform for Action (BPA) requires the
Philippine government, as a signatory to these
conventions, to ensure the equal access of women and
men at all levels of education, skills development and
training.
Over the years, TESDA has endeavored to lead in the
gender mainstreaming efforts in the TVET sector.
Gender and Development (GAD) concerns were
incorporated in TESDA’s activities from planning to
monitoring and evaluation. There are increasing
opportunities for females to enter non-traditional trades
such as automotive and welding trades, among others.
TESDA offers a variety of training courses and
programs for women and men.

In 1991, with the assistance from the government of
Japan, the TESDA Women’s Center was established.
It serves as the National Vocational Training Center for
Women through which TESDA facilitate provision of
skills training and interventions for the empowerment
of women. The organization of TESDA GAD
Committee and the continuing partnership with various
stakeholders are also among the efforts of TESDA to
address the issues of women and mainstream their
concerns in TVET.