Tagum City to offer JobStart program

TAGUM CITY - In its aim to reduce the rate of unemployment among the Tagumenyo youths, the City of Tagum has found the means to improve the employability of its 18-24 year-old residents by becoming one of the second wave of pilot implementation sites of JobStart Philippines, a flagship program implemented by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), in partnership with the Canadian Government and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The implementation of JobStart Philippines in Tagum City is geared towards addressing the prevailing skills gap in the job market by assisting the youths of the city develop their career paths as well as by creating opportunities to improve their technical skills and develop the life skills needed to successfully compete in today’s workplace.

With the signing of the Memorandum of Undertaking between the DOLE and the City of Tagum, the local government, through its Public Employment Service Office (PESO) and with the assistance of the

JobStart Unit, guarantees that the resident youths of the city will have access to career guidance, employment coaching, trainings on technical and life skills such as job-hunting skills, networking and personal and interpersonal skills. These youths will also gain work experience in companies through on-the-job trainings (OJTs) or internships.

To be eligible for the program, a would-be registered and selected beneficiary should be between 18-24 years old who is a high school graduate with less than one year of work experience. The beneficiary should also be one who is currently unemployed, not enrolled and is not in education or in training program.

“We need this kind of program since of one of our priority concerns is employment,” stressed Mayor Allan Rellon during his pledge of support to the program prior to the signing of the Memorandum of Undertaking between the City Government of Tagum and the Department of Labor and Employment.

The said signing of the MOU, held at Park Inn, Davao City on April 16, 2015, was attended by Labor Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz, ADB Director Kelly Bird, Davao City Representative Karlo Alexei Nograles, DOLE OIC Regional Director Atty. Jason Balais and DOLE-Bureau of Local Employment Director Dominique Tutay, and Tagum PESO Manager Rogeneth P. Llanos. (Richi D. Gulle of CIO-Tagum)