As part of their goal to continue to provide skills training opportunities for their beneficiaries in the community, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) in Romblon province recently conducted a Bread and Pastry Production training for Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDLs) in Odiongan District Jail.
At least 25 PDLs in Odiongan District Jail were trained, not only to teach them how to bake but also to help them in their transformation program.
According to TESDA Acting Provincial Director Lynette Gatarin, the training was under the Skills Training for Employment Program (STEP), a program that was introduced in 2014 in government’s thrust of expanding the reach of TVET to the grassroots.
“Makakatulong ito sa kanila kasi meron silang bakeshop. Dati kasi meron na silang first batch na dumaan sa training na tatao sa bakeshop sa loob ng jail ngunit nakalaya na ang karamihan sa kanila kaya humiling ulit sila ng training sa Tesda (This will help them especially their bakeshop. Previously, they had the bakers who were the first batch to undergoe the training but most of them were released so they requested again the Tesda for the training),” Gatarin told the media when she was invited as the guest during the Kapihan sa PIA-Romblon last November 04.
PDLs who are beneficiaries of STEP receive the following assistance from Tesda-Romblon: free training and competency assesment, starter toolkits, and training allowance cost sixty pesos (P60) per day for 10 days.
“Maliban po dito sa Bread/Pastry Production training, ang Tesda po ay may libre rin pong pa-training para naman sa mga miyembro ng Arbos (agrarian reform beneficiary organizations) natin katulad ng Automotive Servicing, Carpentry, at Masonry. (Except for Bread/Pastry Production training, Tesda also offers free training for members of ARBOs such as Automotive Servicing, Carpentry, and Masonry),” she added.
Gatarin also encourages the public who want to train under STEP to visit the Romblon National Institute of Technology in Alcantara, Romblon and enroll on the available short courses.
