Aklan techvoc high school face good prospects this school year

Kalibo, Aklan –A technical and vocational (techvoc) high school here in Aklan is facing good prospects this school year.

The school is Aklan National High School for Arts and Trades (ANHSAT) and presently enjoying a big number of students.

According to Richard Flores, Principal of this public high school located at Andagao, one of Kalibo’s barangays, the surge in enrollment might be due to its being a technical vocational high school, as the trend now is for students to learn livelihood skills early which they could make use of later even if they could not go to college.

ANHSAT is one of Aklan’s five technical vocational schools here and currently being extended priority assistance by the national and provincial governments and non-government organizations (NGOs) here.

Flores mentioned the on-going construction of a one-room concrete classroom under the Principal-Led program and two others soon to begin construction this school year under the same program; the soon-to-be constructed 2-storey 4-classroom building through the office of Congressman Florencio T. Miraflores and the $15,000 fund for the purchase of tools and equipment for the school’s shops.

The Principal-Led program comes with funding direct from the Department of Budget and Management, according to Flores.

ANHSAT, according to Flores, also enjoys a computer facility. It has 21 computer units and multi-media projector from the Office of the President through the Commission on ICT. The units are brand new with gadgets for internet connection.

The Department of Trade and Industry also gave the school 20 computer units while SMART gave two, and from the Rotary Club of Kalibo, 1.

“Because of these computer units, the school will now offer computer subjects to all ANHSAT students from first year to fourth year,” Flores said.

For this school year, ANHSAT is a recipient of 2 teacher items, according to Flores. The provincial government under Governor Carlito S. Marquez has also assured ANHSAT that the province will provide it with four teachers to be paid under the Provincial School Board this school year and pledged four more to be paid under the same program if funds allow.

Meanwhile, DepEd Secretary Jesli Lapus revealed that some 650,000 tech-voc jobs are available in the local market, but the vacancies cannot be filled because tech-voc applicants lack the required tech-voc skills.

This is why, according to him, the DepEd made the “bold move” of pushing for technical-vocational education in public high schools. According to DepEd computations, the tech-voc program will require at least P200 billion. This school year, the “re-designed tech-voc” package will get P207 in program funds.

According to DepEd, tech-voc high school graduates starting next year will be getting NC 1, short for national certification on their skills, from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), in addition to the usual high school diploma. (PIA/Venus G. Villanueva)