Free training for first-time domestic workers abroad

Filipino workers seeking jobs as helpers abroad for the first time can now avail of skills training and assessment for free, the labor department said Wednesday. Labor secretary Arturo Brion said some 13 Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) training institutions (TTIs) nationwide will offer the free training starting Friday, April 20. The free training and assessment will dispel accusations that the reform package on the deployment of foreign helpers is being implemented to exact profit from the jobseekers, Brion said. He added that more TTIs are expected to offer free HSW training by the end of the month as the TESDA works to provide free training to more household service workers (HSWs). The reform package, among others, requires the jobseekers who fail the assessment three times to undergo training. Just once But Brion said trainees can avail of the free assessment and training only once. At present, only the TESDA Training Center in Taguig City is providing free training to HSWs seeking overseas employment. A total of 26 HSW trainees are currently undergoing training at the center. The TTIs which will offer free HSW training and assessment are the following: Luzon - Marcos-Agro Industrial School in Manayon, Bangui, Ilocos Norte; Isabela School of Arts and Trades in Calamagui 2nd, Ilagan Isabela; Southern Isabela College of Arts and Trades in Calaocan, Santiago City; TESDA Women Center at TESDA Complex, East Service Rd., South Super Hi-way, Taguig City. In the Visayas the TTIs include New Lucena Polytechnic College in Efipanio Sonza Ave., New Lucena, Iloilo; Arteche National Agricultural School in Arteche, Eastern Samar; Balangiga National Agricultural School in 6812 Balangiga Eastern Samar; Samar National School of Arts & Trades in Taft, Eastern Samar. In Mindanao they include Dipolog School of Fisheries in Norte; Cagayan de Oro (Bugo) School of Arts and Trades in Bugo Cagayan de Oro City; Lupon School of Fisheries in Panunciaiman, St. Lupon, Davao Oriental; Surallah National Agricultural School in Brgy Dajay, Surallah, South Cotobato; and Northern Mindanao School of Fisheries in Matabao, Buenavista, Agusan del Norte. Interested HSWs may inquire at the nearest TESDA regional office or at the TESDA Women Center in Taguig City, Tel. Nos. 818-8062 and 817-2651. - GMANews.TV