THE Department of Education’s (DepEd) new Technical Professional (TechPro) track will address the misalignment of technical-vocational education in senior high school with assessment conducted by the Technical Education Skills and Development Authority (TESDA). This is according to TESDA Director General Francisco “Kiko” Benitez, who attended the hearing of the Senate Committee on Finance on the agency’s proposed budget for FY2026.
The pronouncement came in the light of the low assessment rate for graduates of the Senior High School Technical-Vocational-Livelihood (SHS-TVL) track. Of the more than 500,000 SHS-TVL Grade 12 completers who are eligible, only 35% have taken the assessment. This is despite a special provision in the 2025 General Appropriations BIll, pushed by the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2), for the mandatory assessment of SHS-TVL completers.
“In a perfect world, ‘yung mga Senior High School students taking the TVL track, o ngayon TechPro na, should be assessed and may certification sila”, Senate Committee on Finance Chair and EDCOM 2 Commissioner Sen. Win Gatchalian emphasized.
When prodded, Benitez pointed to several reasons, including the voluntary non-assessment of graduates who intend to go to college, as well as a misalignment between the SHS-TVL curriculum and TESDA’s Training Regulations.
“What’s the way forward to align it more tightly?”, EDCOM 2 Commissioner Gatchalian asked. Benitez explained, “The first is making sure that DepEd is ready, and the readiness of DepEd will require, for example, that those that are in fact teaching TVL tracks have the appropriate TESDA assessment and certification…Once that is ready, DepEd then can make it ready for all – at least SHS students – to undergo assessment, whether they pass or not pass…”
Benitez also highlighted the new TechPro track as a solution. TechPro is a new pathway designed to provide specialized, hands-on training and technical skills for direct entry into the workforce after graduation. It replaces the previous Technical-Vocational-Livelihood (TVL) track and focuses on clusters of electives like agriculture, ICT, and industrial arts to align with industry needs. Graduates of the TechPro track are expected to be ready for employment, with some even earning TESDA National Certifications, through embedded skills that are already certifiable within the curriculum. This, in particular, was a major issue for SHS-TVL graduates who found themselves unequipped for certification because their skills were misaligned with TESDA regulations.
Benitez explained that the new curriculum is currently being rolled out. “We expect more, by January or so, to be taking the elective courses”, he continued. Benitez also said that TVET National Certifications (NCs) will be embedded in the teacher education curriculum.
“Magiging kumpleto na po ang ecosystem ng tech-voc training from Senior High School, all the way up to CHEd, with capacitation of our teachers, both pre- and in-service. Kasi ‘yun po talaga ang magiging key sa reform”, he said. “The timeline for that is maybe a year to two years from now”, he continued.
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