EFFECTIVENESS OF COMMUNITY-BASED TRAINING PROGRAMS IN THE PROVINCE OF BULACAN

By

NOMER C. PASCUAL
Senior TESD Specialist
TESDA Zambales

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Introduction

The Community-Based Skills Training Program (CBTP) was established as a delivery mechanism to “develop the capability of local government units to assume ultimately the responsibility for effectively providing the community-based technical education and skills development opportunities” ( TESDA Act of 1994).

Pursuant to Section 29 of the said Act, the TESDA Board promulgates the TESDA Rules and Regulations IV Sec. 14 that the Office of the Non-formal Technical Vocational Education and Training (ONFTVET) shall: (a) provide direction, policies and guidelines for effective implementation of non-formal community-based technical-vocational education and training; (b) accredit, coordinate, monitor and evaluate various non-formal community-based technical vocational education and training programs implemented by various institutions, particularly by local government units(LGUs); (c) establish and maintain a network of institutions including local government units, non-government organizations implementing non-formal community-based technical-vocational education and training; and (d) perform such other powers as may be authorized.

The implementation of the program in the province of Bulacan is primarily be by the LGUs thru the Community Training and Employment Coordinators (CTECs) with technical supervision, counterpart trainor's honoraria and equipment loaning from TESDA and some financial support specifically trainors' honoraria from the Provincial Government.

The technical supervision of TESDA focus on the criticality of skills in the province; training program design; quality of trainors and trainees, among others. TESDA is willing to extend technical assistance such as provision of training recommendations; training of trainors/CTECs/other implementors; competency assessment, some financial assistance and guidance counseling.

The training resource requirements which include training supplies and materials; and honorarium for trainors shall be identified and sourced-out by the Community Training and Employment Coordinators. Possible sources of funds include pro-poor organizations and agencies both at the local, provincial and national levels.

The provincial government thru the Provincial Youth Development Council Foundation, Inc. (PYDCFI) has an allotted budget for honoraria of trainors for Community-Based Training Program annually. It would give priority consideration to those programs addressed to develop skills that are considered as critical in the province.

The basic consideration in the manner of selecting the training sites are (1) the willingness of the local government or the private organization to partner with TESDA; and (2) the community provides opportunities for wage/self employment of graduates.

The courses offered are in the areas of foods which include meat, fish, fruits and vegetables processing and preservation; and baking; Gifts, Toys and Housewares like novelty items making, stuffed toys making, handloom weaving, jewelry making, candle and soap making, flower arrangements, pottery, rags and pillows making, slipper making and handicrafts; and Garments where in it includes dressmaking and Industrial Sewing Machine Operation or ISMO. Some others conduct training on Basic Industrial Courses like domestic appliance repair/service, house wiring, baranggay electrician, basic electronics, small engine repair and maintenance, welding and refrigeration and air-conditioning. Information and Communication Technology courses are also offered such as basic computer operation, data encoding, advance computer operation and computer troubleshooting. Other training conducted are cosmetology; reflexology; manicure and pedicure; and hairdressing and cutting.

The courses are conducted in any building structure available in the community. It may be a school, a baranggay hall, a church, multi-purpose hall or any vacant building negotiated by the training coordinators /CTECs.

The Community-Based Training Program is based on the market and economic opportunities in the community. Its objective is to create a new skill-based micro-enterprises, or to enhance the income generating potentials of the existing resources which strongly supports the administration's social contract with the poor. Its target is to provide skills to the trainees that would lead them into employment.

Its role is not only to enable the citizens to acquire useful skills, knowledge and attitudes but also to develop acceptable work values.

Some viewed this intervention as an approach or strategy to promote employment and increase employability of the rural folks and at the same time raising the productivity of the rural communities.

The trainee-graduates may find employment in existing medium enterprise in the community or he may establish his own micro-enterprise depending on his capability to generate his resources.

Thus, this study aims to look into the efficiency and effectiveness of Community-Based Training Program conducted in the Province of Bulacan. The result of which would serve as a tool in determining policy recommendations that will guide TESDA in its planning and policy making functions for the whole sector.

At this juncture, it is necessary to study on the overall outcome of the implementation of CBTP in the province of Bulacan.

Statement of the Problem

The major problem of the study is : How effective is the Community-Based Training Program as implemented in the province of Bulacan ?

Specifically the study seeks answers to the following questions :

1. How may the program be described in terms of:
      - program objectives;
      - policies;
      - standards;
      - profile of trainors and coordinators; and
      - number of training batches?

2. How effective is the program in terms of the following:
      - program objectives
      - policies; and
      - standards?
3. What are the characteristics of clients of the program in terms of:

      - program attended;
      - age;
      - educational attainment;
      - sex;
      - civil status;
      - employment; and
      - income.?

4. What are the problems encountered in the implementation of the program?

Significance of the Study

The result of the study would be useful to the following :

To TESDA, this study would identify the strengths and weaknesses of the Community-Based Training Program which will serve as inputs for the improvement of the delivery of the program making it more responsive to the needs of the rural sector. This can be achieved since the real scenario in the conduct of the program would be presented in the study. The strengths of the program can serve as an opportunity to further program expansion while the weaknesses would serve as a challenge to further enhance the program implementation Aside from program improvement, this study would help TESDA in advocating the program to its stakeholders thereby encouraging them to cooperate in its activities.

To LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS, this study will be able to identify the skills training program specific to the municipality. It will help identify areas where they could enhance employment and productivity. The optimum use of the raw materials present in the municipalities will also be encourage leading to a more efficient and effective program implementation. It will also lead to the realization that human capital is an important factor in the development of ones community.

To NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS / PEOPLE'S ORGANIZATIONS this study will serve as input to improve the partnership arrangement with these sectors. It will help in the identification of viable training program for their target beneficiaries.

To PRIVATE SECTOR, this study will help them identify the source of skilled manpower, investment areas, services of skilled labor, and venues of training. It will also give them the venue on how they could participate with the program of the government that will lead to community development.

To TECHNICAL-VOCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS, this study would help them identify the courses/programs that would be responsive to the needs of the rural population. It will give possible approach on how they can be more accessible to their target clientele.

To TRAINEES / CLIENTELES, this study would help in making the curriculum responsive to their needs as well as to improve the policies for a more effective and efficient implementation of the CBTP; and

To RESEARCHERS, this study may serve as a useful material for future studies.

As a whole, the study longs to generate valuable insights and information on the feasible interventions that create jobs, promote employment and generate income in the rural areas. More importantly is the development of a fully productive individual that enables him/her to realize his/her potentials thereby improving their standard of living.

Scope and Delimitation of the Study

This study covered the graduates of Community-Based Skills Training Programs conducted by TESDA from January to December, 2003. Graduates coming from eight municipalities (two per district) were identified. The study focused the attainment of the program objectives, policies and standards. It also looked into the characteristics of the graduates in terms of the program they attended, age, educational attainment, gender and civil status as well as their employment status and income level prior to training and after the training. The problems encountered by the respondents before, during, and after the training would also be dealt on. Furthermore, recommendation and suggestions to improve the implementation of the program were solicited from the respondents.

The respondents were drawn from the list of graduates of the 2003 considering all trade areas of training programs conducted in the identified municipalities. All areas were covered to be able to present the real scenario of the program.

The respondents from the implementors were only limited to those who are directly involved in the conduct of the training. These include the Community Training and Employment Coordinators and trainors.

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This chapter presents the summary of the findings of the study, the conclusion that were drawn from the research findings and recommendation of the study.

Summary

This study aimed to determine “How effective is the Community-Based Training Program as implemented in the province of Bulacan ?”

Specifically the study seeks answers to the following questions

1. How may the program be described in terms of:
  1.1 program objectives;
  1.2 policies;
  1.3 standards;
  1.4 profile of trainors and coordinators; and
  1.5 number of training batches?

2. How effective is the program in terms of the following:
  2.1 program objectives
  2.2 policies; and
  2.3 standards

3. What are the characteristics of clients of the program in terms of:
  3.1 programs attended;
  3.2 age;
  3.3 educational attainment;
  3.4 sex;
  3.5 civil status;
  3.6 employment; and
  3.7 income?

4. What are the problems encountered in the implementation of the program?

The beneficiaries of the study would be the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, Local Government Units, non-Governmental organizations and peoples organizations, private sectors, technical- vocational institutions, trainees / clienteles and researchers.

This is essentially a descriptive research that utilized locally prepared questionnaires, unstructured interviews and observations and documentary analysis.

Two sets of questionnaires were utilized, one for the graduate respondents and another for implementor respondents. Data were organized, analyzed and presented using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and manual computations.

A stratified random sampling was utilized to select the respondents of the study. Samples for the graduate respondents were taken form the list of the program graduates in the year 2003. Implementor respondents were only limited to those directly involved in the training such as Community Training and Employment Coordinators and trainors.

Summary of Findings

Based on the study and analysis the following are the findings:

•  The implementors of the program mostly belong to age range of 41 to 45 and 50 and above. Half of the implementors have age 35 and below while the other half belongs to 36 years old and above. They are relatively old compared to the graduates by 7.26 years old.

•  The implementors are generally college graduates and even some have masters degree. Only a few reached only college level and elementary level. To compensate the lack formal education the implementors have attended capability build-up programs to strengthen their capabilities.

•  Most of the Community-Based Training Program trainors are food trades specialists. This followed by those who have specialization in Information and Communication Technology; Garments; Gifts, Toys and Housewares; and Basic Industrial Courses.

•  The Community-Based Training Program Trainors are multi-skilled with as much as five specialization per trainor. Although, most of them have only one area of expertise.

•  The training program that was most frequently conducted in the year 2003, is in foods and the most seldom conducted is in garments.

•  There is a satisfactory attainment of all program objectives which include employment generation, provision of opportunity for employment and improvement of the employability of graduates.

•  In terms of the attainment of program policies, the five determinant factors are all satisfactorily attained.

•  Program standards are generally satisfactorily attained but the factors on the adequacy of training supplies and adequacy of tools and equipment are only partially attained.

•  Generally, the program objectives, policies and standards are attained satisfactorily.

•  Most of the program beneficiaries are graduates of food trades, followed by those in the gifts, toys and housewares and the basic industrial courses. The least number of beneficiaries came are graduates of cosmetology, manicure, pedicure, etc.. which is included under others.

•  Most of the program clienteles are aged 31 to 35 years old and about 58% of the program clienteles are in the youth age group. The least number of clienteles are aged 16 years old and below.

•  The highest educational attainment of most of the graduates is High School Graduates and followed by those who reached college and those who finished college. The least number of graduates are those who finished vocational courses.

•  The training program conducted in Bulacan are dominated by females who attended most of the program. Very few of the program clienteles are male.

•  Married individuals composed most of the training program and followed by the singles.

•  Majority of the program clientele are not employed before the training.

•  Those who are working before the training are mostly engaged self-employed and some are wage employed. Only a few are employers.

•  After the training program, more graduates became employed, making a 25 percent increase in employment.

•  Most of the employed graduates are into self-employment and some are into wage. Only a few became employers.

•  The training programs were relevant to the type of employment where the graduates are engaged. They are able to utilize their acquired skills to their present work. Only a small number were not able to apply their skills.

•  The most utilized skills in terms of the relationship of job to the attended training is in foods, followed by the Basic Industrial Course. Unfortunately, none of the graduates of the course related to Information and Communication Technology are employed.

•  The income of many of the clienteles before the training is P 5,000.00 and below. They are earning an average of P 5,426.67 which is lower than the poverty threshold.

•  After the training program, the program beneficiaries earn more than before. They are now earning P 6,160.00 although it is still below the poverty threshold. Most of them are also earning P 5,000.00 and below but compared into their number before training it decreases. There is also an increase in those who are earning P 5,001.00 to P 10,000.00.

•  In terms of the problems encountered before the training, it is in the recruitment of enrollees, sourcing-out of training funds and cooperation of local official where problems are sometime felt. All other determinants for pre-training problems are seldom felt.

•  Relative to the problems before training, the inadequacy of training supplies and materials; handtools and equipment; and the absenteeism of trainees remains to be sometimes felt. Other problem are seldom felt during the conduct of the program.

•  The seed capital which would be used to start a business is an often felt problem after the training. The placement of graduates and the monitoring of graduates are sometimes felt.

•  Problems before the training and during the training are seldom experienced, while problems after training are described as sometimes felt. In summary the problems are sometimes encountered of the program in its entirety

Conclusion

In the light of the findings of the study, the following conclusions were drawn:

•  The TESDA's Community-Based Training Programs objectives, policies and standards serves as reference to all the municipalities in Bulacan in their implementation of the program.

•  The implemetors of the program are relatively older and have higher educational attainment than the graduates of the program.

•  Many of Community-Based Program trainors specialized in foods trades which is the most frequently conducted training program. Although there is also a need for trainors in other areas.

•  Multi-skilling of the trainors can be used as an strategy to lessen the problem on the availability of trainors.

•  The training programs conducted in the year 2003 responded to the needs of the clienteles. In the area of foods where there is a need for enhancement to increase productivity and because of the by product of farming, training are more frequently conducted. This is the same with the other courses.

•  The Community-Based Training Program was effectively carried out as the objectives, the policies and the standards were observed in the implementation of the program. These factors are necessary to be able to ensure the smooth and successful implementation of the program.

•  Although the Community-Based Training Program was effectively carried out, there are some factors in the standards that are only partially attained. These are the adequacy of training supplies and training tools and equipment. These are very important factors specially during the conduct of the training where trainees learn through actual demonstration that they need these tools and materials.

•  Farming, livestock, poultry raising and vegetable production are the major economic activities in Bulacan thus most of the clienteles took training in food trades. This indicates that implementors and clienteles conduct programs relevant to the needs of the community.

•  Youth participation is encourage by the program thus most of the programs beneficiaries belongs to the youth age of 15 – 35 years old. The beneficiaries are relatively younger than the implementors.

•  Most of the program clienteles are high school graduates. This is necessary since the training program is only short termed and some use technical terms thus trainees must assimilate the knowledge and skills required in the trades.

•  Female dominates the program clienteles. This is due to the types of programs being conducted and the perception the livelihood training are only for women. Males only participate in male oriented training.

•  Married individuals composed most of the program clienteles. This may be due to the fact that they have the responsibility to earn a living for their families.

•  There are lots of unemployed individuals attracted to attend training to acquire knowledge and skills which they could use for their pursuit to land to an employment may it be self or wage. Some who are already employed before the training needs to upgrade their skills and to improve their products.

•  After the training, more employment was generated and these employment are related to the training they have attended. Although there is a decrease in the percentage of self employed, it was observed that wage employment percentage increase where income is more stable.

•  Gifts, Toys and Housewares and Basic Industrial courses are utilized more than the other courses by the graduates in their job.

•  There are an increase in the income of the program clientele before and after they have attended the training. This means that Community Based Training Program is relative to the increase of income of clienteles.

•  Among the problems encountered in the implementation of the program, the issue on the seed capital to start the business is the most often felt. Other problems which are sometimes felt are the recruitment of trainees; sourcing out of training funds; selection of trainees; cooperation of local officials; availability of training supplies and materials; training tools and equipment; absenteeism of trainees; placement of graduates; and monitoring of graduates. Other problems are seldom felt.

•  Lack of training funds may be due to the lack of cooperation of local officials and lack of fund sources. Inadequacy of training supplies and materials and tools and equipment is due to the lack of funds.

•  Problem on absenteeism of trainees is a prevailing problem. The occurrence of the problem may be due to the lack of commitment to the training since the training is given for free. It may also be due to the disinterest of the trainees to attend training because of the lack of sufficient supplies and materials, and tools and equipment.

Recommendations

In view of the findings and conclusion the following recommendations are presented:

•  There should be a strict adherence to the program objectives, policies and standards to be able to ensure smooth program implementation. To have uniform understanding, all program implementors should be oriented to these factors.

•  There is a need to utilize manpower at the baranggay level to serve as the working arm of the designated Community-Training and Employment Coordinators. Each baranggay should have a Baranggay Training and Employment Coordinators. They would be responsible for community organizing, needs assessment, program development and management; and monitoring of graduates, among others.

•  TESDA should develop a continuing capability building program for the implementors to make them more actively involved in the program.

•  Sourcing –out of funds for the establishment of enterprise should not be a sole responsibility of TESDA. The proponents of the program should also tap other interest groups who could cost-share in the program.

•  Local Government Units should cooperate in the program by alloting a portion of ther Internal revenue Allotment for the conduct of Community-Based Training Program and to the development of micro-enterprise thereafter.

•  Placement of graduates should be one of the program outcomes. Qualified and deserving graduates should be recommended for employment through the PESO Officers of the municipalities.

•  Deserving graduates who has a potential on becoming an entrepreneurs should also be assured of seed capital by linking them or endorsing them to financial institutions.

•  There should be a continuous intervention by TESDA in upgrading of skill of trainors. Training of trainors should be regularly implemented to make them abreast with the current trends in their fields of specialization.

•  Additional training programs that promote skills and knowledge that would address the needs on the industry should be developed. The skills and knowledge should be based on the industry standards so that graduates would have higher chances of being employed.

•  Since the supervision, monitoring and evaluation of the programs are necessary, it is recommended that a mechanism to this effect should be installed. The methods of monitoring and evaluation should be well defined specifying the people who would do the job.

•  Review of the training module / curriculum should be conducted regularly to ensure that its contents match the industry standards.

•  There is also a need to address issues on social transformation / social change that will enable TESDA to produce outcomes that are far more significant and rewarding.

•  Additional study or an evaluation trainors should be conducted to be able to specifically identify the needs for improvement of the trainors.