Helping the poor through education that hones skills, forms values

Educating the poor can certainly alleviate poverty in the country, especially if it equips them with the know-how and skills needed by companies.

Public high school graduates who cannot go to college because they lack the resources might want to study at Dualtech Training Center. Dualtech offers a six-month course in electromechanics technology to high school graduates and out-of-school youth. After which, they are given an 18-month on-the-job training in companies, during which they already receive an allowance. After the OJT, they are hired.

The parents are made to shoulder only the board and lodging of their children for the first six months so that they will encourage their children to persevere and finish their training. Since the parents are mostly farmers with limited means, they approach kind townsfolk to help sponsor the scholars, like what happened in my hometown.

Kinfolk and friends chipped in with whatever provision they could give to the scholars. Mayor Jose Bunoan Jr. generously provided transportation for them to Canlubang, Calamba City, where Dualtech Center is located and, that’s how the first 10 Dualtech scholars from Tagudin, Ilocos Sur, finished the course. Now, they are on their OJT!

It was an opportunity for selfless townsfolk, motivated only by the goodness of their hearts, to join a noble cause and help the young find a better future. If this is replicated in many parts of the country, we would be able to help poor families in a concrete way.

We attended the graduation ceremony of 104 students of Dualtech Center last May 30. The joyous event was also attended by parents beaming with happiness at seeing their sons graduate, capping their successful experience of “hope, opportunity and transformation.”

What is distinctive in Dualtech is that the students are taught not only technical skills; more importantly, they are also taught values that imbue them with the virtue and attitude for wholesome work. Thus, employers are happy to hire them immediately after their graduation.

The commencement speaker, Jose Miguel A. Orleans, general manager of NXP Semiconductors Cabuyao Inc., one of the company partners, encouraged the new graduates to continue their studies while working—like getting an engineering degree, master’s or doctorate; and to always have a sense of gratitude, especially toward their parents who sacrificed a lot for them.

Established in 1982 in partnership with more than 100 manufacturing and service companies, Dualtech is located in Carmelray Industrial Park I, Canlubang, Calamba City (Tel. No. 8886420, e-mail info@dualtech.org.ph).

“They did not go to college, but they went through a unique dual training system that transformed young high school graduates from poor families into skilled, high-income earning and morally upright professionals who serve the needs of the industry and their communities.” (www.dualtech.org.ph)

—CHING D. AUNARIO, chingauna@yahoo.com

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