More TESDA scholarship slots requested in Davao

The Technical Education and Schools Development Authority (TESDA) in Davao City and Davao del Sur needs additional funds to cover the remaining number of Dabawenyos who still want to avail themselves of the TESDA scholarship program.
Nestor Tabada, TESDA provincial director for Davao City/Davao del Sur, said during the Davao Business Forum at the MediSpa at SM City Davao that his agency continues to receive a stream of requests from unserved Dabawenyos, mostly wanting to enrol in courses involving construction
The allocation of P150 million for the 7,000 slots in Davao City and Davao del Sur have been filled up as of July 2009. The slots were part of the 11,521 that were allocated for Region 11. The funds for the TESDA scholarships here were taken from the P5.6-billion budget for President Arroyo’s  program on technical and vocational education.
As soon as we get the funds, we will continue processing applications, Tabada said.
He said most of the applicants are interested in skills related to construction work as there is a rising demand for skilled welders in various workplaces worldwide.
A TESDA report said that the Yangwha Human Resources Corporation, a Manila-based overseas placement firm, deploys Filipino welders to contractors of oil and gas refineries and power plants in the Middle East.  Its president, Acela Quibrantar informed TESDA of the good employment prospects for welders trained under the PGMA Training for Work Scholarships (PGMA-TWSP) project.
The company has a total of 509 welder-scholar graduates of PGMA-TWSP who were deployed in the Middle East, Korea, Australia and Canada. Of this number, 494 have competencies in gas metal arc welding (GMAW) and 115 in shielded metal arc welding (SMAW).
In the same TESDA report it showed that some 179 welders of both GMAW and SMAW qualifications — all graduates of the PGMA-TWSP — have been placed abroad and working in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Qatar, Russia, Australia, and Korea.
Meanwhile, Tabada said TESDA has included the training in gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) in the list of courses supported under the PGMA-TWSP project.
Previously, only GMAW and SMAW welding training were included in the PGMA scholarship. The scholarship cost for each of the two courses is P7,000 and P10,000 respectively.  Both courses are covered by National Certificate II qualifications.
Welders with GTAW qualifications are more in demand abroad and command higher pay. TESDA has approved training regulations for National Certificates II and IV for gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW), he said.