The Asian Development Bank said Tuesday it approved a $100-million (P5.6 billion) loan to upgrade and modernize the Philippines’ technical and vocational education and training ecosystem to make it more responsive to new labor demands from industries and equip Filipinos with skills for the future.
It said in a statement the Supporting Innovation in the Philippine Technical and Vocational Education and Training System Project would help improve training facilities and equipment in 17 selected technology institutions across the country to transform them into industry-responsive innovation centers.
It will also assist in designing new training courses, reskilling and upskilling of trainers and strengthening the institutional capacity of the government’s Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.
“Industries have become increasingly globalized and are now driven by technological innovations and the rising knowledge economy amid the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which in turn is creating a skills mismatch in the Philippines,” said ADB senior public management economist Sameer Khatiwada.
