Officials of the Temasek Foundation and the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) in Singapore
visited the country last week to explore the possibility of forging a collaborative agreement with the TESDA (Technical Education and Skills Development Authority) for a Train the Trainer program.

Temasek Foundation is a non-profit philanthropic organization that seeks to contribute to sustainable
growth and opportunities for Asians, while ITE is a post secondary institution that provides pre-employment training, continuing education and training to working adults.

Secretary Augusto Boboy Syjuco, TESDA Director General, discussed with Boon Tiong of ITE, and Gerald Yeo of Temasek Foundation the preliminary ideas on how they can work together to provide more opportunities for Asians and to generate feedback on the current situation of technical-vocational education training in the Philippines.

“TESDA is always open to exploring possibilities of partnership with other Asian countries especially on training of trainers. Producing quality teachers for every class is vital to learning since the teacher becomes the learning designer, role model and reflective practitioner in the classroom,” said Syjuco.

The Singapore officials believe that the technical education they have in Singapore and the programs and services of TESDA can be well incorporated into one significant project of training the trainers where a ‘hands-on, minds-on and hearts-on’ educational method can well be employed.

“TESDA and ITE both recognize their role of giving back to society by training its people in a form of social investment,’’ Syjuco said.