Y6 Progress Reports (October 2023 - September 2024)


The sixth year of the implementation of the YouthWorks PH (YWPH) project saw the full roll out of the institutional grants program, with trainings still focused on priority sectors such as Construction, Hospitality and Tourism, Food and Beverage Services, Manufacturing, and Information and Communications Technology (ICT). 

 

Implementation continued in the main project sites/clusters on the Greater Manila Area, Cebu Province, Zamboanga City, Cagayan de Oro City, and South Cotabato. Through the institutional grants, the project expanded its operations to Northern Luzon (i.e., Ilocos region, the Cordillera Administrative Region, Isabela, and Apayao), the Bicol region (i.e., Albay and Camarines Sur), Davao City and Kidapawan City. New institutional grantees include LCTC Allied Services and Infotech School of San Carlos (LCTC), International Labor Force Skills Mastery Institute (ILF-SMI), Inc., Winzelle International College, Advancetech International Manpower Training Center, and Ferndale Colleges, Exelient International Training Institute.

 

In addition to institutional grantee partners, other major collaborations formed in Year 7 include partners such as PHINMA Construction Materials Group for the employment of youth in construction and renewable energy industries, the Jollibee Foods Corporation (JGC)/ Jollibee Group Foundation (JGF) for Supervised Industry Learning conducted in partnership with the School of Knowledge, Industrial Labor, Leadership, and Service, Inc. (SKILLS) in Cebu City, the Abaca Group of Companies, and iKitchen/iCuisine Restaurants group, among others. The collaboration with Mcdonald’s Philippines also gained momentum with the rollout of multiple training programs in the Greater Manila Area, the graduation event attended by the US Ambassador in September, and the scaling up of implementation to other sites in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

 

Local partnerships were also formed with the Municipality of Malungon and the City of Caloocan, and partnerships were renewed with the Oro Chamber of Commerce and Industry and with the Industrial Group of Zamboanga and Zamboanga Chamber of Commerce and Industry Foundation, Inc. through a Strategic Alliance Agreement. The project worked closely with more Public Employment Service Offices (PESO) such as in the cities of Caloocan, Muntinlupa, Paranaque, Quezon City, Antipolo, Naga, San Jose Del Monte Bulacan, Zamboanga, and in municipalities of Southern Mindanao i.e., Alabel, Malungon, Polomolok, and Malapatan.

 

The project also saw the pilot of several notable trainings such as trainings with integrated green skills by ILF-SMI, the Bookkeeping training by Ferndale Colleges, the co-developed quick service crew training and supervised industry learning (SIL) of SKILLS, JGC and JGF, and the food and beverage service training for deaf trainees to be employed by the Fruitas companies.

 

Towards deeper collaboration between the government, industry and academe, YWPH also conducted a Partnership Skills Summit and Youth Skills and Employability Forum in Zamboanga City, hosted the 2024 Higher Education Summit in Cebu City, and co-implemented the TVET Policy Forum with TESDA. YWPH has also continued its policy and advocacy efforts through support to the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) such as the provision of inputs on Enterprise-based Education and Training (EBET) through participation in workshops and senate hearings, the submission of position papers, and the convening of key stakeholders at the Higher Education Summit.

 

This annual progress report aims to present how YWPH has gained momentum across all project sites through the rollout of the institutional grants program and the strengthening of partnerships with the private sector and government agencies. The project has seen renewed interest from different sectors for work-based training, enterprise-based training, and the training of youth not in education, employment or training (NEET), which has led to new as well as strengthened partnerships with the Philippine Business for Education (PBEd).

 

With this, YWPH yielded significant accomplishments for Year 6 in support of its objectives. These include the following:

 

 

Aside from the aforementioned accomplishments, the project also made significant impacts to improve the enabling environment of workforce development through policy and advocacy efforts, both at the local and national levels, by: