TESDA offers DIPLOMA PROGRAM to High School undergrads

Baguio City – The Technical Education and Skill Development Authority's (TESDA) recently announced its diploma program, which offers junior high school graduates or high school undergraduates an alternate route to post-secondary education and career opportunities.

In an interview with GURU Press Cordillera, TESDA Benguet Information Officer Romar D. Agpes shared that those who graduated from junior high school can technically avail the said program, but pointed out that the applicant should be at least 18 years old and above.

“As per entry requirements, explicitly mentioned in the enhanced guidelines, high school undergraduates can enroll in the program providing that they have at least 3 years of industry experience related to the diploma program that they want to apply for. Also, TVIs are given the freedom to add other requirements to screen the trainees for admission to the program,” explained Agpes

The TESDA information officer also said that TESDA training institutions will have to provide screening or selection procedures to ensure eligibility of applicants who want to avail for the said program.

“For the screening process, the training institutions may conduct initial profiling, in terms of the program the students are applying for. Example, if they want to apply for tourism related programs and their tracks do not match, the training institutions will look into that aspect as well,” said Agpes.

Aside from the interview, there is also an entrance exam to assess learners applying for the diploma program.

The TESDA diploma program is a three-year technical-vocational education and training (TVET) program offered by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) to equip learners with specialized skills, 21st-century competencies, and a pathway to higher education or employment as "technologists."

The program is supported by the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Law, with students who are enrolled in TESDA-certified institution to be entitled of free tuition, insurance, book allowance, and other subsidies.

As employment opportunities, learners who completed their supervised industry learning in the companies they were assigned to will have a higher chance of getting employed or hired.

According to the latest data of TESDA, there are already 620 graduates of the program in the Baguio City.

High school under-graduate students with at least 3 years of industry experience are encouraged to apply for the said program to help them boost their knowledge and will help them be equipped with global competence.

Interested applicants may visit CSITE Main campus at Military Cut-off, Baguio City for inquiries or the TESDA Benguet in Wangal, La Trinidad to know more about other institutions offering diploma programs in Baguio-Benguet.