Scholarship and Student Assistance Programs

Programs aim to address equity and access by providing direct financial assistance to deserving TVET enrollees across all regions in the country.  The scholarship programs currently being implemented include the following:

Training for Work Scholarship Program (TWSP)

This program provides immediate interventions to produce the needed skilled and certified workers and fill-up the job vacancies in key industry sectors in the country.

  • It seeks to support rapid, inclusive and sustained economic growth through course offerings to Key Employment Generators (KEGs) in the areas of Agri-fishery, Agri-business, Agro-industrial, Tourism, Information Technology-Business Process Management, Semiconductor and Electronics, Automotive, other priority Manufacturing Industries, Logistics, General Infrastructure, and New and Emerging sectors and in-demand jobs based on the latest Labor Market Information Report of the DOLE.
  • Provided, that priority shall be for the training, upskilling, and reskilling of Filipino learners, workers and professionals in Artifioial Intelligenoe (Al) and related technologies, creative industries, semiconductors, and electronics manufacturing industry, and healthcare-related programs, including but not limited to pharmacy assistants, dental technologists, medical technologists, radiologic technologists, caregivers and nurses.

Tulong Trabaho Scholarship Program (TTSP)

This program was established established through R.A. No. 11230 which mainly aims to provide more innovative approaches to TVET linked to the requirements of industry to primarily address unemployment and job-skill mismatch through the delivery of Selected Training Programs (STPs) to qualified recipients.

  • The TTSP shall be used to develop modalities and programs to strengthen and upgrade the qualification and competencies of the Filipino workforce to meet the challenges of the
    rapidly evolving workplaces and work structures; provide for more innovative approaches to TVET linked to the requirement of industry to primarily address unemployment and
    job-skills mismatch; facilitate access to quality TVET; and encourage the participation of industry and communities in competencies formation and upgrading towards a more
    competitive Filipino workforce, through funding of program offerings in higher level qualifications, in new and emerging skills in areas with critical skills shortages in identified
    priority sectors pursuant to R.A. No. 11230.

It also support the implementation and expansion of the following:

  • Enterprise-Based Education and Training (EBET) programs under RA No. 12063 or the Enterprise-Based Education and Training (EBET) Framework Act
  • Micro-Credential Courses (MCCs) implemented by enterprises and training institutions; and
  • Training programs for onsite, outbound, and returning/repat riated Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs)

Private Education Student Financial Assistance (PESFA)

This program for is students in private education under R.A. No. 8545, otherwise known as “Expanded Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education Act”.

  • It seeks to extend financial assistance to marginalized but deserving students in post-secondary, non-degree courses, promote TVET, contribute to the development of a
    competent skilled workforce and assist private institutions in their development efforts by assuring a steady supply of enrollees to their training programs.

Special Training for Employment Program (STEP)

STEP is a  scholarship program that seeks to address the specific skills needs of communities and promote employment, through entrepreneurial, self-employment, and service-oriented community-based specialty training.

This shall give priority to the following, in the order of preference:

  • Indigent families under the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR);
  • Informal Sector Families;
  • Those belonging to basic sectors, as defined under R.A. No. 11291, otherwise known as the “Magna Carta of the Poor”; and
  • Those under the next lower poverty level as determined by the DSWD

TESDA shall provide and facilitate assistance to beneficiaries to access appropriate employment and to develop micro-enterprises.

Tsuper Iskolar

A scholarship program for the Implementation of the Stakeholder Support Mechanism Component under the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP) of the Department of Transportation (DOTr), to capacitate the stakeholders of  the program through skills training and assessment.

Rice Training and Extension Services (RTES)

A program under the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF), as amended in R.A. No. 12078, focusing on modern rice farming techniques, farm mechanization, and knowiedge/technology transfer through farm schools nationwide. This shall also cover programs under PAFSE.

The primary beneficiaries of the RTES shall be the following:

  • Farmers listed in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA)
  • Rice cooperatives and associations (FCA) accredited by DA

To reach a broader range of farmers, the following secondary beneficiaries or extension intermediaries shall be engaged, trained, and mobilized:

  • AEWs of the Local Government Units (LGUs);
  • Rice and machinery specialists and trainers
  • Potential seed growers
  • Owners and potential owners of farm schools with rice components
  • Local farmer technicians (LFTs)
  • Farmer-leaders
  • Farm School owners/Learning Site for Agriculture (LSA) cooperators with rice components; and
  • other extension intermediaries who could facilitate technology adoption

 Coconut Farmers Scholarship Program (CFSP)

A  scholarship program to support the implementation of the Coconut Farmers and Industry Development Plan (CFIDP) under R.A. No. 11524 or the Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund Act, which aims to provide the capacity building and learning needs of the coconut farmers to increase their income and improve the productivity of the coconut industry. This shall also cover
programs under PAFSE.

Child Development Workers (CDWs) Scholarship Program

A program which aims to equip incumbent eligible CDWs with the necessary competencies to deliver improved early childhood services, pursuant to R.A. No. 12199 or the Early Childhood Care and Development System Act

Lifelong Employability and Advancement Program (LEAP)

A scholarship program focusing on short, modular, and stackable Micro-Credential Courses (MCCs). The LEAP complements, rather than replaces, existing scholarship programs such as the TWSP and TTSP. It addresses agile, employment-critical upskilling needs that longer qualification programs are not designed to meet, enhancing employability for near-hires while supporting continuous learning for the existing and future workforce.