All 39 CCT-assisted masons seeking certification from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) passed the competency exam given on February 9 and 10. Of these, 21 are former street dwellers who learned masonry on-the-job while helping build the Tagaytay Retreat and Training Center and the CCT Training and Development Institute in Magdalena, Laguna. The rest are relatives of CCT community partners from Taguig, Muntinlupa, Manila, Pasay and Novaliches.
The masons underwent the assessment as part of Sikhay sa Paggawa (SIPAG), a project being overseen by CCT and run in partnership with TESDA and the Department of Trade and Industry. They range in age from 20 to 60. The project targets organizing 180 TESDA-certified workers into guilds by the end of a year.
Rolando Calimlim, SIPAG project manager, explained that the first phase of the project entails helping workers already skilled in masonry, carpentry, painting and plumbing to be TESDA certified and organizing them into guilds.
The second phase of the project will be spent training unskilled and partially skilled workers for these hands-on jobs.
Members of the guilds will then be organized into business enterprises such as cooperatives, single proprietorships or partnerships.
The rest of the allotted time will be used to equip the workers with entrepreneurial skills. "Training the workers in entrepreneurship is the heart of the project," said Calimlim who has in the past trained hundreds of men for labor-intensive jobs. "Someone with excellent hands-on skills but lacking entrepreneurial skills often ends up still jobless. The workers will be taught how to market themselves, how to package themselves, how to write simple proposals, how to estimate construction costs, and how to close a deal."
"Having TESDA-certification gives the men an advantage when applying for jobs in the Philippines or abroad," said Froilan Parado, SIPAG general manager.
Joseph Alegria, guild organizer, added, "Hindi nagdadalawang isip ang employer sa pagtangap ng TESDA certified construction worker. (Prospective employers do not have qualms about hiring TESDA-certified construction workers.)"
Funds for the project are from the priority development assistance fund of the ALAGAD party-list.
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| Justo Ferolino, TESDA assessor, orients the masons on how the exam will proceed. |
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| Part of the actual trade test: measuring... |
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| mixing, |
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| mixing, |
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| and plastering. |
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| Certification hopefuls take the hands-on test under the watchful eye of a TESDA assessor. |
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| Masons take the oral exam two at a time. |
