A total of 15,000 people in Central Visayas now have the opportunity to take up vocational courses under the scholarship program of the Techical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).
TESDA Director General Joel Villanueva, who was in Cebu Thursday, announced that at least 15,000 scholarship slots are available for training in Central Visayas this year.
About 10,500 of the slots will be available for Cebu, 2,000 for Bohol, 1,500 for Negros Oriental and about 1,000 for Siquijor.
"The number may still increase because these are slots that have yet to be filled," Villanueva said.
The scholarship programs offered by TESDA are the Training for Work Scholarship Program, Private Education Student Fund, Assistance Program, Special Training for Employment and the Bottom-Up, he said.
TESDA has been collaborating with technical and vocational schools in the region and produced 200,000 graduates and more than 80,000 of them are now employed in different companies.
In a press conference, Villanueva revealed that his research showed Filipino welders are now in high demand in Malaysia and Middle Eastern countries.
He said that based on job postings in the different jobs site in the country, about 17,000 Filipino welders are now needed in Malaysia and about 16,000 in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
