Declaration of Policy
- The State is mandated by the Constitution to promote a just and dynamic social order.
- The aim is to ensure national prosperity, independence, and liberation from poverty.
- Policies should provide social services, promote full employment, improve living standards, and enhance quality of life.
- The Constitution encourages nonformal, informal, indigenous, self-learning, independent, and out-of-school study programs, especially those responding to community needs.
Objectives
- Strengthen Filipino workforce qualifications to meet rapidly evolving workplace demands.
- Innovate TVET approaches closely linked to industry needs to address unemployment and job-skill mismatch.
- Facilitate access to quality Technical-Vocational Education and Training (TVET).
- Encourage industry and community participation in competency formation and upgrading.
Definitions
- Competencies: Standard knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values for specific jobs or trades.
- Competencies-based learning: Training based on demonstrated ability.
- Direct training expenses: Costs directly tied to training including consumables, supplies, utilities, venue, equipment, trainer fees.
- Enterprise-based programs: Training conducted within companies or firms.
- Formal education: Hierarchical and sequential learning culminating in certifications for advancement.
- Industry board: TESDA-recognized industry organizations authorized for funding.
- Informal education: Lifelong learning from daily experiences.
- Labor Market Intelligence Reports: Latest skill demand analyses by TESDA and DOLE.
- Philippine TVET Competencies Assessment and Certification System: Quality-assured system for competency validation and gap identification.
- Program: The Philippine Labor Force Competencies Competitiveness Program established by this Act.
- Selected Training Programs (STPs): TESDA Board-approved TVET programs including school-based and enterprise-based.
- TESDA: Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.
- TVET: Education/training involving general education, technology, sciences, and practical skills across sectors, formal and nonformal.
Philippine Labor Force Competencies Competitiveness Program
- Established pursuant to Section 17 and funded through the Tulong-Trabaho Fund.
Tulong-Trabaho Fund
- Provides qualified recipients access to TESDA-selected TVET programs covering full training fees.
- Includes financial assistance such as transportation allowance and laboratory fees as necessary.
- Assessment, certification, and issuance of national certificates are free for qualified recipients.
Funding
- Initial funding derives from TESDA's current General Appropriations Act (GAA) budget.
- Continuation guaranteed through subsequent GAA allocations.
Scope of Financial Assistance
- Used exclusively to pay fees for qualified recipients enrolling in TESDA-selected training programs (STPs).
Qualified Recipients
- Persons aged 15 or older who are NEET (not employed, not in education/training).
- Employed workers seeking skill development or expansion.
- Excludes workers currently receiving employer-provided enterprise-based training.
Management of the Tulong-Trabaho Fund
- TESDA primarily manages the Fund.
- TESDA Board sets policies and guidelines.
- TESDA Board authorized to receive donations specifically for beneficiaries.
Determination of Selected Training Programs
- TESDA Board approves STP list based on TESDA Secretariat recommendations.
- STPs may be school-, center-, community-, enterprise-, or web-based.
- Selection based on Labor Market Intelligence Reports, DOLE’s employment data, jobs-skills matching, Human Resource Roadmaps, and other studies.
- TESDA Board may adopt additional criteria.
- Initial STP list released within two months of Act’s effectivity.
Determination of Qualified Recipients
- Industry boards submit trainee lists requesting fund assistance to TESDA Regional Directors.
- Regional Directors assess and submit qualified lists to TESDA Director General.
- Lists are periodically updated based on fund availability and STP numbers.
Evaluation of Assistance to Schools and Training Centers
- TESDA Board evaluates funded schools and centers periodically.
- Recipient institutions must achieve at least 80% pass rate in TESDA certification assessments.
- Failure to meet passing rates triggers review, audit, and possible funding suspension.
- Additional criteria may be established to govern continued funding eligibility.
Public Online Registry
- TESDA shall maintain an accessible online registry of STP providers, qualified recipients, and program graduates.
Evaluation and Reporting
- TESDA Board shall issue an annual public report on Fund utilization, expenditures, recipient performance, and related data.
- Periodic impact evaluations shall be conducted.
Development Modalities and Support Systems
- TESDA responsible for designing and implementing support systems for program goals.
- Programs and modalities for employed workers' skill upgrading will be developed.
- Standards for trainer training, competency assessment, and quality assurance will be implemented.
- Engagement with industry, local governments, and labor sector encouraged.
Oversight Committee
- A Joint Congressional Oversight Committee with members from relevant House and Senate committees is created.
- The Committee monitors implementation and fund disbursement.
- Secretariat support drawn from involved committees’ personnel.
- Expenses funded from respective appropriations.
Implementing Rules and Regulations
- TESDA will issue IRR within 60 days of the Act’s effectivity, consulting stakeholders.
Separability Clause
- Invalid provisions do not affect the validity of remaining provisions.
Repealing Clause
- Conflicting laws, decrees, issuances, orders, and regulations are repealed, modified, or amended accordingly.
Effectivity
- The Act takes effect fifteen days after publication in the Official Gazette or a newspaper of general circulation.