As part of its commitment to facilitate the development of TVET in the Asia-Pacific Region, the Colombo Plan Staff College (CPSC) participated in the initial talks between the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) of the Philippines and the State Ministry of Skills Development, Vocational Education, Research & Innovation (MoSTR) of Sri Lanka for possible collaborative activities aimed to improve the employability of their workforce and the TVET system in the long run. The meeting was held at the TESDA Headquarters in Taguig City, Philippines on June 3, 2022.
The CPSC Director General, Prof. G.L.D. Wickramasinghe represented CPSC in the meeting and was accompanied by Mr. Vergel dela Paz, CPSC Training Officer.
The meeting was attended by key officials from the Sri Lankan Embassy in Manila and TESDA notably: H.E. Shobini Gunasekara, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the Philippines; Mrs. Lina C. Sarmiento, Deputy Director General for TESD Operations; Mrs. Maria Susan P. Dela Rama, Executive Director of the TESDA Certification Office, Ms. Sonia Lipio, Executive Director of the TESDA Partnership and Linkages Office (PLO) and Mr. Lorenzo Emmanuel Guillermo, Executive Director of the Qualifications and Standards Office (QSO).
Meanwhile, MoSTR officials attended the proceedings online and included: Mrs. Deepa Liyanage, the Secretary of the MoSTR, Ms. W.A.M. Malkanthi, Additional Secretary of the MoSTR, and representatives from the Sri Lankan Mission in Saudi Arabia.
The representatives of the two agencies discussed issues on labor workforce mapping, accreditation and benchmarking, national competency certification, benchmarking of international and national competency certification, standards development, language skills, and soft skills training. CPSC, being a specialized agency for TVET in the Asia-Pacific region, is expected to contribute significantly to this collaboration by organizing special In-Country Programs with Sri Lanka using the expertise of TESDA.
The meeting ended on a positive note as both agencies committed to further maintaining closer communication and are expected to formalize this bilateral agreement in an MoU that will be signed in the coming days.
Mr. Vergel dela Paz, CPSC Training Officer (left), Prof. G.L.D. Wickramasinghe, CPSC Director General (center) and Ms. Maria Susan dela Rama, Executive Director of TESDA Certification Office (right)
Ms. Sonia Lipio, Executive Director of the TESDA Partnership and Linkages Office (left) and H.E. Shobini Gunasekara, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the Philippines (right).
