Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 13) — Newly-appointed Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Chief Suharto Mangudadatu will focus on harmonizing the agency’s training programs with the current K-to-12 curriculum of the Department of Education (DepEd), he said in a media briefing on Tuesday.
In a media briefing last Tuesday, Mangundadatu pointed out that senior high school graduates are not certified by TESDA on the quality of their skills and compliance with industry standards. A certification from the agency will open opportunities for senior high school graduates to land jobs after graduation, he said.
“Gusto ni President (Ferdinand Marcos Jr.) na mabigyan ng focus ‘yong K to 12 para hindi naman masasayang ‘yong panahon ng mga bata at hindi maging pahirap sa magulang kung bakit may additional tayong two years ng senior high school,” Mangudadatu said.
[Translation: The President wants to focus on K to 12 so that the additional two years for senior high school will not put to waste the time and efforts of students, as well as the sacrifices of their parents.]
The newly appointed TESDA chief assured coordination with legislators to fast-track the approval of a bill that will synergize the mandates of TESDA and DepEd.
Aside from this, Mangudadatu also laid down a 10-point agenda that will make technical vocational education and training (TVET) and entrepreneurship programs more accessible to all Filipinos through barangays and their Sangguniang Kabataan (SK).
He will also bring in Halal TVET to open up opportunities in HALAL businesses.
“‘Yong mga program ng TVET is already existing — all we do is to improve ‘yong mga ingredients natin, some of the ingredients are not belonging to the HALAL-certified, so kung ito’y gagamitin natin, everything is HALAL certified. I’m sure na maiimprove pa natin,” the new TESDA Chief explained.
[Translation: TVET programs already exist — all we need to do is to improve our ingredients because some are not HALAL-certified. So if we will use them, everything is HALAL. I’m sure we can further improve this.]
He claimed that the HALAL industry in the Philippines is booming, with more than 2,000 accredited companies advocating the HALAL program.
Mangudadatu also noted during the media briefing that he does not see any issues regarding his new role.
Prior to his appointment as TESDA Chief, Mangudadatu served as governor of Sultan Kudarat from 2007 to 2016, and from 2019 to 2022.
He was also a former representative of the lone district of Sultan Kudarat from 2004 to 2007 and a representative of the first district of Sultan Kudarat from 2016 to 2019.
