21 RRCY residents, staff pass NC-II TESDA training

MINERVA BC NEWMAN

CEBU CITY – Seventeen residents and four staff from the Regional Rehabilitation Center for Youth (RRCY) were granted the NC II training certificate for Cookery from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) this year.

RRCY is operated and managed by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD-7), a facility designed to provide intensive treatment in a residential setting for the rehabilitation of Children in Conflict with the Law (CICL) with suspended sentences.

 RRCY center head Aileen Cuevas said it is DSWD’s aspirations to provide not only rehab for CICLs but also introduced various programs to capacitate them when they are finally reintegrated into their own communities.

Cuevas said that DSWD continues to assist RRCY residents in upscaling of skills and gaining national certificates to graduates that ensure quality assurance in terms of knowledge, skills, and value competencies through TESDA.

According to Cuevas, for RRCY residents, cooking is part of their everyday routine as it serves different purposes like self-benefit or service to others. Cookery classes among residents and staff started in November 2021 and assessed them from a series of demonstrations, observations, questioning, exams, and the actual conduct of their learnings.

They were trained on picking the right ingredients for the recipes. Various utensils and ingredients, mostly vegetables, were provided for them to come up with nutritious, delicious, and healthy meals for the day-to-day operations of the center, Cuevas bared.

 “We want our residents to develop the sense of aspiration to reach for their goals even if they are inside the rehabilitation facility. These children will be at the losing end if they do not learn something from us. The skills they learned could help them after they leave RRCY and look for livelihood opportunities later on,” Cuevas added.

Most RRCY residents have no basic education due to early exposure to circumstances that led them to the rehabilitation center. “As an institution, we do not want to fail in providing rehabilitation care to them because they have not met the basic education,” Cuevas said.

“Ako nagpasalamat og dako aning training. Bisan usa ko ka CICL apan ang TESDA ug RRCY nihatag nakog higayon nga makat-on. Ang akong nakuhang NC II sa Cookery, ako kining gamiton sa pagpangita ug maayong trabaho pohon makagawas ko dinhi ug matabangan nako akong pamilya sa hinsaktong pamaagi,” Ariel, 21 said.  (I am very thankful for this training. Even though I am a CICL but TESDA and RRCY gave me a chance to learn. I will use this NC II for Cookery to find a decent job when I get out of here and help my family in the right way.)

Finishing vocational training with TESDA gives them valuable experience as they leave the institution, the kind of training that will help them become fully rehabilitated, Cuevas stated. (Photos: DSWD7)