By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Around 1,200 Bacolod City residents attended a general orientation yesterday at Bacolod Tay Tung High School after qualifying for the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) scholarship.
City Councilor Ricardo Tan, chairman of the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) Committee on Livelihood, said the program aims to provide proper education and livelihood opportunities, especially to those living in poverty.
“For me, education and skills training are our keys to development,” he said.
Tan was also pleased to see city residents interested in TESDA’s program, calling them a “sure passport” in uplifting their lives.
The city councilman also said the 1,200 are the first batch of qualified scholars of the TESDA program in which several short-courses are offered such as baking, welding, and call center training.
“This event is the biggest for TESDA in the whole Visayas region, if not the Visayas, then the whole country,” Tan said.
He added, the TESDA central office in Metro Manila is now processing the next batch of qualified program beneficiaries, expected to comprise of 1,300 scholars.
The scholars are scheduled to start their respective courses today.
Upon completion of their course, students will be given an assessment examination before receiving their TESDA national certification./WDJ