Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, about 1.5 million have enrolled in the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority’s (TESDA) online courses, President Rodrigo Duterte said on Monday.

In his sixth and final State of the Nation Address (SONA), Duterte said he instructed TESDA to ensure the upskilling of the employees, including the returning overseas workers.

The move is part of the government’s efforts to rehabilitate the economy, especially the hardest hit sectors, he added.

“In response to the directive of the President, TESDA will put more emphasis on the upskilling and retooling of workers. We have committed our scholarship programs to address the skills gaps and increase the employability of our workers,” TESDA Secretary Isidro Lapeña told the Philippine News Agency.

He added that TESDA will continue to be more accessible to its target clients, as embodied in its guiding principle, “TESDA Abot Lahat”.

TESDA’s online or program can be availed of by anyone for free. There are over 60 courses to choose from and can be finished from eight to 40 hours.

One can also enroll in other courses after finishing a course.

The available online courses are Electrical and Electronics, Entrepreneurship, and Information and Communications Technology (ICT), Basic Computer Operation, Cookery, among others.

In Duterte’s SONA last year, he instructed TESDA to come up with special to retool the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

This will help them find better opportunities both locally and abroad, he said.

Data from TESDA showed that there were 7,500 OFWs who enrolled in TESDA’s online courses in 2020. Over 6,140 of them graduated, while 1,856 were certified.

From January to June 2021, some 5,382 OFWs have enrolled in the online program, and 2,433 of them got their certification which may be used when they apply for jobs, here and abroad.

Top online courses among OFWs in 2020 were Entrepreneurship, Caregiving, Domestic Work NC II, Bread and Pastry Production NC II, and Cake, Bread and Pastry Making.

Among the OFW graduates in the first half of 2021, top courses include Caregiving, Bread and Pastry Production NC II, and Domestic Work NC II. (PNA)