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| Massage therapy graduates wait outside POLO for their turn to be assessed |
A total of 67 out of 100 massage therapy graduates passed the
initial National Certificate II competency assessment administered by the Technical
Education and Skills Development
Administration last weekend.
Labor Attaché Jalilo dela Torre congratulated the passers online
on Feb 18 as he disclosed that his office will also train overseas Filipino
worker-trainors on the new Tesda framework for massage therapy.
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| Trainor Ramos is joined by Polo and OWWA officers in awarding the NCII certificates |
He said the target date for the trainors training is in
March.
The labor attaché said the training was suggested by
Tesda, which sent a team of certification officers to the Philippine Overseas
Labor Office on Feb 16-17 to assess 338 massage therapy and 172 caregiver NC II
candidates.
The team led by Marites S. Ramos from the Tesda
Certification Office spent practically the entire two days testing the NC II
applicants.
“We finished the Saturday assessment at 11:30pm and we are
going to finish today’s batch even if it will take us until 1:30am,” Ramos told
The SUN on Feb 17.
She said each of the candidates was told of the result as soon
as they finished an actual demonstration of their massage skills on a “client”
in a two-hour session. The certification followed each time an applicant passed
muster.
But the assessment was tedious and thorough. By noon on
Sunday, the Tesda team had assessed only 15 NCII aspirants.
Labatt Dela Torre said the process lasted until 3:30am the
next day, Monday, until the 100th massage therapy graduate had been assessed.
He thus urged those booked for the Feb 24 assessment to try and
go a day earlier to accommodate those who had to drop out of the queue last
Sunday because of their “curfew”.
“(If) you are able to get your employer's permission to come
on Saturday instead, Feb 23, we would be grateful,” Labatt Dela Torre said in
his Facebook post.
“To those who are booked on Sunday, Feb 24, please tell your
employers early that you might be late because of the assessment. We don't want
you to feel pressured by work concerns while you are waiting for your turn to
be assessed,” he said.
Dela Torre said the Tesda team will return for the Feb 23-24
assessment of the remaining NC II aspirants. A total of 338 have registered for
the assessment and less than a third of that number has been assessed so far.
“They will be back on Feb 22 … and there will be more
assessors so we are confident we can cover all applicant massage therapy
graduates,” Labatt Dela Torre said.
Ramos said Hong Kong is the first OFW destination this year for
the certification team, which reaches out to countries where there are large
concentrations of Filipino workers.
She said the trainings and assessments offered by Tesda help
Filipino workers, especially domestic workers, level up in the career ladder in
preparation for their integration into the economy when they return home.
“We are happy to see our workers acquiring skills through
Tesda’s development courses, such as massage therapy and caregiving, which will
equip them for a career change,” Ramos said.
They can even use their training to become entrepreneurs,
she said.
