More Out of School Youths in Zambo Set to Receive Free Skills and Alternative Education Trainings

A new batch of 824 out of youths of the city are set to undergo various short term technical skills trainings in the next few months under the Mindanao Youth for Development (MYDEV) program.

The Zamboanga-Basilan Integrated Development Alliance, Inc. (ZABIDA) signed simultaneously separate memoranda of agreement with the Zamboanga City StatePolytechnic College (ZCSPC) and the Universal College of Southeast Asia and the Pacific (UCSAP) in a ceremony held on Friday, October 23 to launch the program. The signing was held at the polytechnic school.

The two schools will conduct the trainings in their respective campuses and participating barangays, with ZABIDA acting as program manager. The training is sponsored by the Education Development Center (EDC) and funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The OSYs will come from 30 targeted barangays of Zamboanga City. ZABIDA and the schools will “identify cluster of competencies suitable for community-based training and school/industry-based training programs”, the agreement stipulated. The schools will“undertake the portion of cluster of competencies suitable for school/industry training programs,” the MOA also says.
The MOAs were signed as principal parties by ZABIDA president Fr. Angel Calvo, CMF and ZCSPC president Dr. Nora Ponce and UCSAP president Alejandro Navato. Attesting as witnesses were representatives of the cooperating agencies to include the city government, Department of Education, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, City Agriculturist Office, Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Interior and Local Government, Zamboanga City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Foundation, Inc., National Youth Commission, and other members of the city Out of School Youth Development Alliance.

In his remarks, Fr. Calvo said society has a “sacred duty to take care of our children” as a collective effort “to invest in their future”. He said the alliance will ensure that all needed resources shall be provided for the proper training of the youths, who are the “seeds of the future”.
TESDA regional director Lorenzo Macapili said the training dovetails with the national government’s program to raise the skills competencies of labor to fill available job that remain unfilled by the thousands due to the lack of qualifications. He cited thousands of jobs available in local fish canning factories that are unserved due to lack of qualified workers.
Earlier this year, over 300 OSYs also graduated from various livelihood skills trainings including nonformal academic education under the first phase of the MYDEV program implemented by ZABIDA.

EDC Youth Development Specialist Robinson Wee said the program will continue until 2018. He said it is intended to improve the peace and security conditions of the city by making the youths productive or employed citizens and thereby keep them away from violent or criminal activities.

MOA signing of partnership for the MYDev program between #ZABIDA, #TESDA, #ZCSPC and #UCSAP witnessed by the OSYDA members.

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