Mindanao techvoc sector crafts roadmap for 2010-2015

DAVAO CITY— Amid the emerging realities and challenges facing the country’s human resource, a five-year roadmap for Mindanao’s technical and vocational sector was recently launched here to serve as a blueprint and guide to enhancing competitiveness, viability and sustainability of the island’s tech-voc industry.

The Mindanao Technical Vocational Education and Training (MinTVET) Roadmap for 2010-2015 is a five-year roadmap developed by the MinTVET sector through the support of the Philippines-Australia Human Resource Development Facility (PAHRDF), in cooperation with its stakeholders and partners.

The PAHRDF is a five-year, Php 2.3 billion (A$60 million) initiative of the Australian government through AusAID. The facility aims to assist national and local government agencies, academic institutions and private organizations in addressing key organizational needs. It also enables them to provide better services and institutional management through short and long-term human resource development programs.

In a launching ceremony held here on 23 November, Ms. Joji Ilagan-Bian MinTVET chair presented the highlights of the roadmap to stakeholders from TVET institutions, business sectors and concerned government agencies.

The MinTVET roadmap targets workers in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) and in the agri-fishery sector as new training segments and focuses on improving the marketability or acceptability of graduates based on hiring requirements of increasingly discriminating traditional job markets.

Bian said the roadmap is the first of its kind in establishing a positioning strategy to ensure the long-term survival and viability of private Technical-Vocational Institutions (TVIs) in Mindanao.

“We also want to develop technopreneurs as well as encourage industries to open their doors and businesses to accept TVET graduates for areas of work that would require certain levels and skills.” she said.

The MinTVET Association noted Mindanao’s vast human resource as an important factor in the region’s continuous progress and expressed its support for the creation of the Mindanao 2020 Peace and Development Framework plan.

The outputs of the roadmap will be incorporated into the Mindanao 2020 Peace and Development Framework Plan currently being formulated by the Mindanao Economic Development Council (MEDCo) as an updated framework plan shall guide peace and development efforts in the island-region for the next 10 years. Usec. Virgilio Leyretana, chairman of MEDCo said that the MinTVET roadmap represents the TVET sector’s thrust in accelerating its socio-economic development and its commitment for quality assured education and training.

“By integrating similar regional efforts into MEDCo’s consultations we will be able to come up with the first milestone development of the Framework Plan, the Mindanao Peace and Development Agenda.” Leyretana said.

Bian emphasized that the roadmap will make the Framework plan a more reliable tool for investors to use for development planning in the region.

“We are very happy that MEDCo will look at the MinTVET roadmap and really implicate it in the Mindanao 2020 because it will encourage more investors to come to Mindanao.” she said. MEDCo