MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews/10 June) – The Municipal Government of Maramag, Bukidnon has been operating a technical vocational training school since 2007 without government permit particularly from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), according to Dr. Catherine M.R. Galapon, the agency’s provincial director.
Galapon informed the provincial board about this during the regular session on June 8, where she was asked to shed light on the state of technical education in the province.
She said the Maramag Polytechnic College, owned and run by the municipal government did not secure a Certificate of Program Registration for all its skills training courses.
Among the courses offered by the school are automotive, electronic services, welding, food trade and commercial cooking, computer hardware services, and health care services.
She told MindaNews the school’s brochure also made it appear it was registered with their office because it uses qualification titles TESDA uses for courses registered with them.
The brochure the students will get an NC2 credit or National Certificate Level 2 after completing the courses.
Galapon said another violation of the school is charging a tuition of P2,500 when it is supposed to deliver free training as a “community training center”.
Maramag mayor Alicia Resus told Vice Gov. Jose Ma. R. Zubiri Jr via telephone during the session that they just patterned their operations after the Lugait Technical Vocational School in Misamis Oriental.
But Galapon, who was previously assigned in Misamis Oriental until April 2011, said that the school in Lugait, also run by the municipal government is a TESDA-accredited school.
She said past TESDA directors failed to close the school because the municipal government kept on signifying intent to register.
“But they never pushed through,” she added.
She said she will give the school a chance to comply with the requirements to obtain a CPR for each course they offer, although she warned they could close it if it fails to do so.
Galapon said the Bukidnon Technical Institutes Association (BukTIA) has complained against the local government-owned school’s “illegal operation”.
She said it is important that the public should know about the illegal operations of such schools because their graduates will not be allowed to take the TESDA skills assessment tests, which are required in obtaining special orders and other certificates for local and foreign employment.
Bukidnon has 23 accredited technical vocational schools, 21 of which are privately owned. (Walter I. Balane/MindaNews)
