March 29, 2024

Neighboring municipalities are now availing of the training provided by the Technical Educational and Skills Development Authority-Benguet provincial center in Kapangan.

Community Training and Employment Coordinator Marlon Baso of the Kapangan municipal government said trainees from Buguias, Kibungan ,and La Trinidad have enrolled in the various skills offered in the training center.

Baso said Tesda offers carpentry, agricultural crop production and bread and pastry for the meantime due to the limited space. Priority of these trainings are residents of Kapangan as earlier agreed with the Tesda-Benguet. 

“We disseminate the information on the scholarship to the 15 barangays and then wait for them to send their trainees. After that we opened the slots to other interested trainees from other towns,” Baso said.

Pending the establishment of the provincial training center, staff from the Tesda-Benguet were given a temporary office within the municipal hall compound to conduct the training. 

Early this year, Tesda Sec. Isidro Lapeña led the groundbreaking of the P10 million-worth three-story provincial training center near the Kapangan municipal hall in Barangay Paykek.

Meanwhile, the municipality conducted its first town-wide skills competition in carpentry, nail art and bread and pastry last week with participants came from the different barangays.

Baso said there are also technical vocational students from Governor Bado Dangwa Agro-Industrial School who participated during the one-day competition sponsored by Tesda-Benguet and the municipal government.

He said the competition, which was open to 18 years old and above, was patterned after the recently-concluded Adivay provincial skills competition as part of the 121st Benguet foundation day celebration. 

“Those who won here would have a chance to represent Kapangan if there would be a province-wide skills competition next year,” he said.

He said they aim to conduct the competition yearly so that the Tesda trainees would have an avenue to sharpen and showcase their learned skills. – Ofelia C. Empian