TESDA CL beefs up provision of agri training
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Central Luzon, has included agriculture as one of its priority sectors to capacitate the public to be food sufficient.
“Almost all of the countries around the world, especially the developed ones, are the ones with sufficient food. Those are the exporters. We have not yet reached that level, that is why we want to teach our countrymen to learn how to plant and to engage in agriculture,” TESDA Regional Director Balmyrson Valdez said.
Aside from attaining food sufficiency, agriculture can be a source of income because people may also sell their produce.
Also not everybody should live in the city, citing that those who live in mountains or farm areas can do so much to cultivate their lands.
Valdez also shared that Secretary Isidro Lapeña has a directive to all TESDA offices nationwide to go to the areas where the Department of Agrarian Reform conducts certificates of land ownership award (CLOA) distribution.
“We go to the areas identified for CLOA distribution before the actual awarding to profile the beneficiaries and assess what their training needs are. This is because majority of the beneficiaries do not know what to do with the lands awarded to them,” he said.
The director said that they usually train CLOA beneficiaries to utilize the land given to them, how to develop it as a sustainable food source, and how to fertilize it properly to prevent the crops from dying.
Since the Department of Agriculture usually provides the beneficiaries with farm inputs and machineries, TESDA also trains them on small engine repair so they know how to operate, maintain, and repair these machines and equipment in case of damage.
Aside from the goal of attaining food sustainability, TESDA likewise train the beneficiaries as well as those who belong to the agriculture sector on how to develop their entrepreneurial skills and mindset.
“Our entrepreneurial program teaches them how to manage their earnings, how to spend, and how to save their money,” Valdez said.
In fact, he said that they also assist their beneficiaries in selling their produce.
Aside from agriculture-related courses, TESDA also offers many more courses to help the public develop and enhance their skills, and find job opportunities that are matched with these skills.
For more information on the different training programs of TESDA and the list of requirements, interested individuals may visit www.tesda.gov.ph or their Facebook page- TESDA Region III.
