TESDA allots 50,000 scholarship slots for rice farmers under RESP —official

The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) has alloted 50,000 scholarship slots for rice farmers this year under the Rice Extension Services Program (RESP).

"Itong 2022, meron tayong nakalaan na 50,000 slots [This 2022, we have allotted 50,000 slots] for our farm school scholarship program or agriculture program," TESDA Deputy Director General Aniceto John Bertiz III said at the Laging Handa briefing.

Bertiz said TESDA aims to produce "highly skilled" farmers under RESP and its Agrostudies program.

He added that TESDA's programs in agriculture, which include crop and animal production, seed preparation and irrigation, aim to boost the industry and to lower the cost of production.

Bertiz said TESDA will be prioritizing "aggressive agriculture" in the technical development of its skills courses, in line with the directive of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.

More than 50,000 have graduated under the RESP from 2020 to 2021, according to Bertiz.

The agency was also able to put up more than 665 farm field schools under the Agro-Entrepreneurship program.

He said the slots under the RESP are also open to former overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), displaced workers, and relatives of farmers. —KBK, GMA News