SEEKING education and employment for its young people, the city government of Caloocan’s manpower training center skills is currently training 60 out-of-school youth (OSY) on massage therapy. The trainees are employable after graduation and on-the-job training (OJT), Violeta Gonzales, office in charge of the city’s Labor and Industrial Relations Office, said in an interview on July 9. The course runs for four months, she said. OJT requires each trainee to complete about 200 hours.
The trainees are deployed to barangays and city’s activities like people’s day to meet the required hours, Gonzales said.
The course is timely since masseurs and masseuses are currently in demand in the country and abroad, she said.
In fact, most of the trainees enrolled for the course plan to pursue opportunities abroad, Gonzales said. Locally, the spa industry would absorb them after completing the training, Gonzales added.
Ma. Elena G. Cipriano, who has been a massage therapy trainer in the past four years, said some of her former students are now employed abroad as professional masseurs and masseuses.
They work in hospitals and wellness centers in Canada, Qatar and other Middle Eastern countries and are making money, she said.
After graduating, the trainees are required to pass the National Certificate II at assessment centers accredited by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, Gonzales said.
The certificate qualifies them for employments related to massage therapy in the country and overseas, she said.
About 60 OSY from the city’s two districts enroll for the free massage-therapy course every quarter, Gonzales said.
They are trained on five techniques, namely Reflex, Swedish, Thai, Shiatsu and chair massage, Cipriano said. Some are already earning while undergoing training, she said. Professional massage therapist can make P300 an hour, Cipriano added. In a year, the city trains over 200 OSY to become professional massage therapists in its south and north manpower training centers, Gonzales said.
Applicants for the course must at least be a high-school graduate and a resident of Caloocan.
Mayor Oscar Malapitan is eyeing to increase the number of massage-therapy graduates ofover 200 a year once the city’s manpower training center facilities are upgraded to accommodate more trainees, Gonzales said.