MANILA - President Rodrigo Duterte has signed a law that seeks to provide free access to technical-vocational education to qualified recipients, as the government aims to address the problem of job-skills mismatch.

Duterte signed on Feb. 22 Republic Act 11230 or the “Tulong Trabaho Act”, according to a copy of the law obtained by ABS-CBN News.

The law, which also establishes the Philippine Labor Force Competencies Competitiveness Program, aims to strengthen the qualifications of the Filipino workforce “to meet the challenges of the rapidly evolving workplaces and work structures.”

Under the measure, a “Tulong-Trabaho Fund” shall be established. This will provide qualified recipients access to technical-vocational education and training under the programs to be identified by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

Access to the Tulong-Trabaho Fund shall be made available to any unemployed person who is least 15 years old, and not in education and not in training or employed workers who intend to develop and expand their current skills and trainings. Existing workers in enterprise-based companies or industries currently trained by their employers shall be excluded from the law’s coverage.

Industry organizations recognized by TESDA seeking funding for training programs shall submit a list of trainees who have requested assistance from the Tulong-Trabaho Fund to the TESDA regional directors, who shall then assess the applicants and submit a list of qualified recipients to the TESDA Director General for approval.

The recipient industry boards shall ensure that at least 80 percent of the beneficiaries are able to pass the Philippine Technical-Vocational Education and Training Competency Assessment and Certification System. Failure to meet the passing rate shall subject the school or training center to performance review and audit by the TESDA Board.