THE Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) said it will tie up with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) to provide skills training and technological education for returning Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs).
OWWA and TESDA signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) Wednesday “to collaborate in a partnership venture to strengthen TESDA’s purposive intervention for returning OFWs, and also explore the development of a joint project on technical education and skills training, as well as assessment and certification for returning overseas Filipinos through the Comprehensive OFW Reintegration Program Framework.”
“The primary purpose of this Agreement is to formalize the partnership between the parties in skills training, technical education and assessment & certification for returning OFWs,” according to the MoA.
The programs provided under the OWWA-TESDA MoA will admit OFWs and their families.
Present at the MoA signing were OWWA Administrator Hans Leo J. Cacdac; Department of Labor and Employment Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III; TESDA Secretary Isidro S. Lapeña; TESDA Director-General for Linkages and Partnerships Rebecca J. Calzado; and Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon M. Lopez.
Also covered by the MoA are the Onsite Assessment Program (OAP) and skills training which the OWWA and TESDA will bring to countries where OFWs are based, prioritizing countries with the high numbers of distressed OFWs.
OWWA and TESDA are also authorized to implement an “evaluation mechanism” which will measure the success rates of the initiatives provided under the agreement. — Gillian M. Cortez
