MANILA, Philippines -- The Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) are set to sign a memorandum of agreement related to the implementation of a scholarship fund.
The scholarship was promised by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry.
BPAP CEO Oscar Sanez confirmed that the association, Tesda officials, and Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) chair Ray Anthony Roxas-Chua III will sign the agreement next week.
Sanez said the agreement is related to an earlier commitment made by Macapagal-Arroyo who has promised to allocate P350 million in scholarships for the training of some 70,000 potential workers for the BPO industry, through the help of Tesda.
A staff from the public information office of Tesda has confirmed next week?s briefing with BPAP.
?[The MOA] is a good way to announce that we have a stronger [government] support for training for the BPO industry,? Sanez said.
The scholarship is part of the PGMA Training for Work Scholarship Program (PGMA-TWSP).
According to Tesda's website, Macapagal-Arroyo made this commitment during the November 4, 2007 launch of Offshoring and Outsourcing Phillippines: Roadmap 2010 by the BPAP at the Makati Shangri-la Hotel.
The scholarship program allows near hires to improve their chances of finding a job after they undergo a training funded by the PGMA-TWSP scholarship program. Vouchers are provided to these potential hires, which in turn are trained by Tesda-accredited institutions.
The public information office said that Tesda provides vouchers to training institutions, which are expected to have a minimum of 50 percent employment rate.
Sanez said that the BPAP will work closely with Tesda in the management of the vouchers, which will be provided to different sectors represented in BPAP.
?We have agreed on the procedures,? Sanez added, noting that this was part of the association's roadmap.
According to Tesda, the PGMA-TWSP administered by TESDA has graduated for the BPO sector a total of 37,300 call center agents, 49 percent of whom have found jobs; 5,000 medical transcription jobs at 54 percent employment rate; and 230 software developers, 81 percent of whom became employed. These figures covered a 17-month period from May 2006 to September 2007.
BPAP hopes that the Philippines can capture as much as 10 percent of the global market and quadruple revenues to $13 billion. This increase is expected to raise total direct employment to 900,000 or an increase of more than 600,000 jobs, as well create 1.2 million to 1.5 million more new indirect jobs, Tesda said quoting BPAP.
