• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The establishment of Regional Training and Innovation Centers (RITCs) of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) in Negros Island Region got a boost with the donation of two properties for its sites in the cities of Victorias and Talisay in Negros Occidental.
The Beneterra Consolidated Corp. donated an area of 25,000 square meters in Victorias City while the Symbiosis Management and Development Corp. also donated a 10,000 square-meter lot in Talisay City.
Their respective representatives Raoul Benedicto and Antonio Montinola signed the deeds of donation with TESDA Director General Jose Francisco Benitez during the recognition of Technical-Vocational Education and Training (TVET)-Industry partners held in Talisay City on Aug. 23.
“This will go a long way in ensuring that the ecosystem of technical-vocational training in NIR will not only be healthy, will not only be sustainable, but will lead, in fact, to the innovations and the transformations that the country as a whole needs,” Benitez said in his speech.
An RTIC is designed to have an incubation site, training rooms, and maker space for prototyping of things.
As a template, it can accommodate 3,000 to 5,000 students, depending on the type of trainings it can offer.
The construction of the RTIC facilities will be funded by the Asian Development Fund, with counterpart from the Department of Budget and Management.
Benitez said he is hoping that the two RTICs will be operational in 2027.
Meanwhile, TESDA also formally recognized its partners, who registered programs under the Enterprise-Based Education and Training (EBET) and Microcredential Programs.
The Certificate of TVET Program Registration for EBET was awarded to the Homeworld Construction Corp. (Masonry NC I and II); Florentina Realty and Development of Bacolod Corp. (EIM NC II); Panasiatic Call Centers Inc. (Contact Center Services NC II); Telephilippines Inc. and TP Near-Hire; and Repair Training Center Talisay for Repair and Maintain Roofing Systems Level 2.
The Negros Occidental Language and Information Technology Center received a certificate of TVET Program Registration for Micro-credential Course.
The Association of Negros Producers Inc. has been formally recognized also by TESDA as the Regional Industry Technical-Vocational Education and Training Board for Creative Sector in the Negros Island Region. | GB
