Private Education Student Financial Assistance (PESFA)
This program was established through Section 8 of Republic Act No. 8545, otherwise known as the Expanded Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (GASTPE) Act. PESFA offers educational grants to qualified and deserving college freshmen both in degree and non-degree courses. The program seeks to:
1.extend financial assistance to marginalized but deserving students in post-secondary non-degree courses;
2.promote TVET;
3.contribute to the development of a competent skilled workforce; and
4.assist private institutions in their development efforts by assuring a steady supply of enrollees to their course offerings.
The PESFA directed the beneficiaries on the choices of careers to the critical skills requirements of in-demand jobs in the labor market. It also allows for equity distribution of the opportunities made available through government subsidies.
•Implementing Guidelines
Training for Work Scholarship (TWSP)
This program provides immediate interventions to meet the need for highly critical skills. The program has two-fold objectives:
1.to purposively drive TVET provision to available jobs through incentives and appropriate training programs that are directly connected to existing jobs for immediate employment, both locally and overseas,
2.to build and strengthen the capacity and capability of TVET institutions in expanding and improving the delivery of quality, efficient and relevant training programs that meet job requirements, including programs for higher levels of technology.
The program was launched in May 2006 with funding from the Office of the President and mainstreamed in the regular budget in 2008. This program is a response to the clamor of industry to address the critical skills shortages in priority sectors, particularly the Business Process Outsourcing, metals and engineering, construction and tourism, among others.
STEP is a community-based specialty training program that addresses the specific skills needs of the communities and promote employment, particularly through entrepreneurial, self-employment and service-oriented activities. Training programs offered are generally short-term or modules based on the Training Regulations promulgated by TESDA. Its objective is to provide skills and training opportunities for the beneficiaries in the barangays/ communities to make them employable and productive.
Both public and private techvoc providers, but mostly local government training centers and TESDA Technology Institutions, deliver the training programs under STEP.
The beneficiaries of STEP receive the following assistance: free training and competency assessment, starter toolkits and training allowance of sixty pesos (Php 60.00) per day for the duration of the training.
The program was introduced only in 2014 in line with thrust of expanding the reach of TVET to the grassroots.
In pursuit of attaining the Philippine Development Plan’s goal of inclusive growth and poverty reduction, and promoting good governance at the local level, the Human Development and Poverty Reduction Cluster (HDPRC), through the Bottom-up Budgeting (BuB) Oversight Agencies, shall implement the Bottom-up Budgeting (BuB). This program seeks to increase citizen’s access to local service delivery through a demand-driven budget planning process and to strengthen government accountability in local public service provision.
The BuB oversight and participating agencies are tasked to ensure the implemetation of priority poverty reduction projects as identified at the city/municipal level through the BuB participatory planning and budgeting process.
It is an approach to the preparation of agency budget proposals, taking into consideration the development needs of cities/municipalities as identified in their respective local poverty action plans that shall be formulated with the strong participation of basic sector organizations and other civil society organizations.