Press Release March 19, 2009
Villar Bats for More Active Apprenticeship Programs
Nacionalista Party President Senator Manny Villar cites that now more than ever it is important that both the public and private sectors implement initiatives to help people get and keep jobs amid massive redundancies and layoffs. "In this period of economic slowdown and high unemployment rate, it is crucial for Filipinos, particularly the young people, to get continued training. Apprenticeship is one way of helping them be productive and give them the opportunity to get employed. During this time, there is an urgent need to mobilize apprenticeship programs both in the public and private sectors," says Villar. According to Villar, with apprenticeships, it is like hitting three birds with one stone as it will provide solutions to unemployment, increasing number of out-of-school youth and college dropouts as well as the growing skills shortage among workers in the country. Recently released statistics show that the number of unemployed Filipinos has reached 2.855 million in January this year or about 7.7 percent of the total labor force. "The government can lead the way in actively promoting skills and apprenticeship by ensuring that all publicly bid contracts contain relevant skills training and apprenticeship requirements. This is what most governments worldwide are doing nowadays in response to redundancies and labor layoffs, to ensure that their people will remain productive and employed," cites Villar. According to Villar, like Australia, the United Kingdom among other European countries have even used government procurement to ensure that any private sector company awarded a government contract is committed to skills training and apprenticeships. Moreover, successful bidders in government contracts must employ a certain number of apprentices based on the value of the contract. Villar further cites that while in other countries the number of apprenticeships is growing, in the Philippines, it is on a downtrend. The Labor Code does have provisions regarding apprentices, categorized as 'special workers'. Apprenticeships however are not actively implemented in the country despite tax incentives provided to participating enterprises. Based from a study of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), which is at the forefront of skills training and technical education, apprenticeships statistics have been declining in recent years. According to TESDA, for the period between 2006 and 2008, the number of persons trained under the apprenticeship and learnership programs gives substantially lower figure of 72,592 number of persons trained as against the target of 100,500. The target was lowered to 70,000 in 2007; the number of apprentices reached 71,424. Meanwhile, for the period between January and September 2008, there were only 38,781 apprentices. According to Villar, "There should be a better and stricter implementation of apprenticeships programs and policies in the public sector. Meanwhile, the private sector should be further encouraged to provide skills training and apprenticeships. The tax incentives and other benefits should be used to entice them." "Apprenticeships can eventually lead to entrepreneurships. As people gain skills and know-how, they can use these in establishing their own business ventures. And as we all know, entrepreneurship generates job. It will be a good chain reaction," adds Villar. The Labor Code defines 'apprenticeship' as practical training on the job supplemented by related theoretical instruction and 'apprentice' as a worker who is covered by a written apprenticeship agreement with an individual employer or any of recognized entities. APPRENTICESHIPS TABLE: Number of Persons Trained by Region
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