Davao City – 122 JobStarters under the JobStart Philippines program have recently finished their 10-day Life Skills Training (LST).

The LST graduation for Davao City was held last January 27, 2017 at Grand Men Seng Hotel.

Jobstart Philippines is a Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) implemented project in partnership with the Asian Development Bank and the government of Canada. It is being implemented through the local Public Employment Services Office (PESO) of the target areas.

Qualified “JobStarters” will undergo ten days of life skills training, up to three months of JobStart-funded technical training and another three months of work experience with a “matched” employer/establishment. The interns in return will be receiving at least 75% of the minimum wage in the relevant city/municipality.

The graduation was headed by DOLE XI Regional Director Joffrey M. Suyao together with DOLE XI Davao City Field Office Chief Dennis Badilles. Representatives from the Davao City Local Government Unit were also present namely Assistant City Administrator for Operation Atty. Lawrence T. Bantiding, who represented Mayor Sara Z. Duterte, and Davao City PESO Manager Philip Nidea.

Director Suyao shared in his message that the JobStart Program Project of the Department is the answer to equip and empower college graduates of the prescribed skills that most employers are looking for in an employee.

“We hope and we pray that you will be with us because we will be with you on this journey. We believe that with the Life Skills Training, with the technical training, with the on-the-job training, there is no way that you will not get the first job or the second job that you will be seeking for,” Director Suyao said.

He said that for this second roll out of JobStart in Davao City out of the 248 applicants 132 qualified for LST and 122 finished the 10-day course. Explaining that from the qualified applicants 6 already landed jobs after the interviews while 4 of them dropped out of the training for personal reasons.

Director Suyao added that for 2017, they are targeting more areas to be covered by JobStart in the region.

Moreover, Tagum City which is another JobStart pilot area in the region also recently conducted their LST graduation with a total of 109 JobStarters last January 19.

Kriztja Marae G. Labrador/DOLEXI-LCO