COA: P152-M Tesda tool kits undistributed

More than 50,000 entrepreneurship starter tool kits in 2023 that were left undistributed to scholars of one of Technical Education and Skills Development Authority’s (Tesda) programs could lead to wastage that would cost the government at least P152 million, state auditors said.

Of the 58,222 undistributed tool kits for Special Training for Employment Program (Step) beneficiaries, 42,080 units, or the majority were worth a total P151.85 million, while the remaining 16,142 units had an undetermined cost due to the agency’s “still unresolved problems on late procurement,” according to the 2023 annual report by the Commission on Audit (COA).

Step was implemented in line with Republic Act No. 10931, or the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act (UAQTEA).

Based on a 2021 circular issued by Tesda, the tool kits would help Step beneficiaries jump-start any income-generating activities they plan to pursue once they graduate.

COA also called out Tesda for having produced only 20 graduates in its five-year implementation of the UAQTEA despite having an allocation of P276.37 million and a total of 2,071 filled slots for scholarship. The graduates obtained a three-year diploma in hotel and restaurant technology.

The Sariling Sikap Program (SSP), a revolving fund meant to enable Tesda to become a self-sufficient and income-generating entity, was also found with irregularities, as its accumulated balance remained high at P631.1 million at the end of 2023.

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This balance resulted in the “improper utilization” by Tesda operating unit of the SSP funds that amounted to P28.6 million, “which are not related to training-cum-production activities and contrary to the purpose of the SSP fund as provided under EO No. 939,” COA examiners said, referring to the executive order that created the program.

In the Metro Manila office alone, charges or disbursements under the SSP fund “soared so high which resulted [in] negative operating results or surplus deficit” in 2023,” government auditors pointed out.