COA raps TESDA for lapse in monitoring multi-million-peso programs at 2 vocational schools

The Commission on Audit has called out the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) for the inefficient monitoring of its Training for Work Scholarship Program (TWSP) at two vocational institutions in Manila, which involved the allocation of a total of P15.575 million in funds.

AMA: 'Glaring deficiencies' in docs

According to COA's 2017 audit, TESDA gave AMA Computer College's (AMACC) Manila campus P9.3 million to train 310 scholars in JAVA.

AMA received a total of P13.65 million (P10.05 million in 2015 and P3.6 million in 2016) from TESDA for the implementation of the training.

The supporting documents for the funds, however, was deemed insufficient by the commission, which cited attendance sheets without specific dates and incomplete affidavits and scholarship vouchers.

Furthermore, out of the 310 scholars, auditors could only reach 115, while 195 were unavailable due to incorrect or busy contact numbers.

"Despite the glaring deficiencies and inconsistencies of the documents submitted by AMACC, TESDA-Manila still processed the DVs for payment without validating the veracity of the claims on the actual trainings conducted and the existence, qualifications of the supposed TWSP scholars trained by AMACC," the audit said.

AMACC management informed COA that it has already refunded the P9.3 million in two tranches and is no longer pursuing the JAVA training.

The unused P4.35 million was reverted to the national treasury. The school director of the Sta. Mesa Campus has also been terminated.

TIC: Unreachable scholars

COA said TESDA also fell short in the monitoring of a P1.925-million training program it funded at the Technivoc Institute Corporation (TIC).

The audit team, which launched confirmatory interviews and ocular inspections to assess the training programs, reached out to 215 of the program's 270 listed scholars. However, due to inactive or incorrect contact numbers, only 28 of these responded.

Among the 28, one said he did not avail of the TWSP, while 15 confirmed that they attended TESDA scholarship programs from other Technical Vocational Institutions (TVIs). One of the trainers was also listed as a scholar.

TIC: Business address

COA also said that TIC's business address was incorrect, after the audit team conducted an inspection of its listed location at Getz Hotel on Tayuman Street in Sta. Cruz.

The team said that TIC did not have a sign outside the hotel and neither space nor facilities to accommodate TESDA scholars. Hotel staff also denied that the building houses a vocational institution.

In response, the TIC program director insisted on the company's business address and argued that Getz Hotel was under renovation during the inspection. The director also said that the hotel staff questioned were new.

However, COA said in its rejoinder that the lack of any signage at Getz Hotel and the hotel staff's unfamiliarity with TIC confirm its non-existence.

TIC: Mobile trainings

The COA also said that TIC's mobile trainings for four barangays in Manila were non-existent, with barangay officials and constituents certifying that no trainings and mobile vans were brought to their communities.

The TIC official said that the trainings were not conducted in Barangays 312, 382, 163, and 423, as all trainings were held at the hotel before the renovation works began.

The official submitted a notarized affidavit detailing the program and submitted the names of 37 scholars she claimed were TESDA scholars at TIC.

COA, however, said that the TIC's Enrollment and Terminal Report stated that the mobile training programs were conducted in the barangays.

It added that only six of the 37 scholars confirmed attending trainings at TIC, while the rest were either unreachable; availed programs at different institutions; or were not listed as TESDA scholars.

The COA directed TESDA-Manila to require TIC to present proof that trainings were conducted, or refund the payment to TESDA.

The director of TESDA-Manila told COA that it will submit additional supporting documents to prove that the trainings were really conducted, and that it will propose to amending existing TESDA regulations before the central office.

Need for greater monitoring

The commission said TESDA's lack of monitoring has "opened chances for TVIs to submit false reports of scholars and trainings" and "deprived other qualified beneficiaries the opportunity to avail of the same slots, and benefit as sholars under the TWSP."

The COA recommended that TESDA-National Capital Region management intensify its monitoring of the TWSP and require TESDA districts to ensure all payments to TVIs have been validated.

In response, TESDA-Manila management said it will adhere to the COA findings by validating the attendance of scholars to the training which, it said, it previously failed to do due to lack of manpower. — BM, GMA News