Negros Oriental-The Technical Education Skills and Development Authority (TESDA) in Negros Oriental is actively promoting the benefits of technical and vocational (tech-voc) education as a faster path to employment compared to traditional college degrees. This initiative aims to address the job mismatch in the region by equipping students with immediately applicable skills in the workforce.
According to Philippines News agency, TESDA-Negros Oriental provincial director, despite the availability of tech-voc courses that can expedite employment, many in the province still favor a four-year college degree. He highlighted that TESDA graduates are often employed within six months of completing their courses, whereas college graduates may take a year or longer to find similar opportunities. To integrate tech-voc training more broadly, TESDA has started including National Certification Level II (NC II) skills training in all strands of the K-12 senior high school curriculum starting this school year, a significant shift from previous years when only the Technical-Vocational-Livelihood (TVL) strand was included. Furthermore, the Department of Education in Negros Oriental has launched a unique tech-voc curriculum focused on sugar processing, reflecting the local industry's demands. This program, the first of its kind in the Philippines, has already seen its first batch of students graduate this year.