November 28, 2017

The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) is set to boost its language training program among overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to ease language barriers between the Filipinos and their foreign employers.

TESDA Director General, Secretary Guiling “Gene” Mamondiong said that at present, there are 36 TESDA Training Institutions (TTIs) nationwide that offer language training.

Mamondiong said that the language training program of TESDA is incorporated in the Training for Work Scholarship Program (TWSP) which offers language courses on English, Japanese, Spanish, Mandarin (Chinese), Italian, Arabic and Korean (Hangul).

 Aside from language proficiency, the training aims to educate the OFWs about the culture of the country where they are working.

TESDA's National Language Skills Institute (NLSI) has also become a venue of Japanese Language Preparatory training for nurses and caregivers under the Philippine-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (PJEPA).

Mamondiong also said that TESDA is planning to expand its basic language and culture training by adding German, Russian, French, Bahasa, Vietnamese and Mandarin (Taiwan) languages.

The NLSI celebrated its 10th anniversary last November 24 by re-launching its language training courses under its expansion program, with its partners signing a ceremonial pledge of commitment.

“We take pride in the Filipinos having the capacity and ability to learn, and arming them with workplace language and culture is the Filipino human resources’ passport to more opportunities.  Workplace language and culture skills will add to the competitive advantage of our Filipino workers,” said TESDA Deputy Director General for Policies and Planning Rosanna Urdaneta in her message during the event.