TESDA grilled over unutilized funds, low enrollment of scholars

Senators on Monday grilled officials of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) over its budget utilization for the year, given its low obligation of scholarship funds.

Data presented by the TESDA during a Senate hearing showed that the agency had a target of 492,885 learners this year, of which 368,874 slots were approved.

As of September 30, 2021, there were only 158,966 learners approved, equivalent to a utilization rate of 32.3%, while there were 60,886 graduates or a completion rate of 38.3%.

The same data showed that there are 209,908 remaining slots so far, with 42,599 being processed and 81,412 for submission.

TESDA is mandated to integrate, coordinate, and monitor skills development programs, and fund programs and projects for technical education and skills development, among others.

The figures were flagged by Senator Joel Villanueva, who also previously headed the agency, noting that P3.44 billion in scholarship funds remain unobligated.

“The figure is like that because of the community quarantine restrictions but with the relaxation of the community quarantine, then we can speed this up,” TESDA Director General Isidro Lapeña told senators.

“In fact we are scheduling enrollment and there will be graduation at the same time, because many are waiting for this, and we cannot just do it before because of the pandemic restrictions, but we can do it for the last three months,” he added.

Based on the catch-up plan of the agency, it seeks to onboard 104,033 individuals in October, 136,703 in November, and 93,164 in December as the best case scenario.

Under the “better” scenario, TESDA aims to enroll 33,534 individuals in October, 55,115 in November, and 162,141 in December. The “good” scenario indicates that there would be 52,157 enrollees each in the last three months of the year.

Senator Franklin Drilon questioned TESDA’s budget allotment of 30.89%, given that the agency is seeking an additional P7.8 billion in the coming year.

Lapeña responded by saying that the disbursement rate has climbed to 85% as of September 24, but again blamed the low disbursement to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as what he said was the delayed release of the funds.

“This was affected by the COVID-19 health crisis and practically for the first semester, there was non-activity but we have tried to catch up in the next semester of the year,” he said, referring to the 2020 budget. — BM, GMA News