From left to right: Mr. Philip Felipe, Program Director, Bayan Academy, Mr. Jefferson Cua, Resource Speaker, Mr. Raul Manikan, Executive Director, Bayan Academy, Ms. Jennifer Vivas, Education Program Supervisor II, DepEd NCR. Dr. Maria Teresa Namoro, Assistant Chief of Secondary Education Division, DepEd NCR, Ms. Patricia Anne Javier-Gutierrez, Head of Communications, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Together with some of the graduates from the third batch of the JPMC Teachers’ Training on EntrepreneurshipJPMorgan and Bayan Academy (formerly ABS-CBN Bayan Foundation, Inc.) conduct intensive technopreneurship training for Metro Manila teachers.

As part of the global financial services firm’s corporate social responsibility efforts, JPMorgan Chase and Co. (JPMC) through the JPMorgan Chase Foundation recently embarked on a training program for educators in partnership with Bayan Academy for Social Entrepreneurship and Human Resource Development and the Department of Education-National Capital Region.

The Teachers’ Training on Entrepreneurship for the K to 12 Basic Educational Program seeks to equip Technology and Livelihood Education (TLE) teachers from different schools in Metro Manila with entrepreneurial knowledge in response to the implementation of the K to 12 program. These schools are early implementers of the senior high school, specifically the Technical-Vocational-Livelihood track, of the K to 12 program.

“We embarked on the development of a new entrepreneurship training and curricula for the wider school system in agreement with the DepEd, specifically for the additional two mandatory years of education or senior high school,” said Dr. Eduardo Morato, chairman & president of Bayan Academy.

During the closing ceremonies for the third and last batch of participants, JPMorgan Chase and Co.’s head of Communications Patricia Anne Javier-Gutierrez on behalf of Senior Country Officer Roberto Panlilio shared, “We strongly believe that by training [these] educators, we can help address the skills gap and equip the youth with the requisite skills needed to increase their chances of employability and create a highly productive workforce.”

Since 2010, JPMorgan Chase and Co. and Bayan Academy have been working together to develop technical skills training for the disengaged youth and adults from low-income communities in Manila, particularly BASECO. Trainings previously conducted include commercial cooking, beauty care, massage and hairdressing for 360 out-of-school youth and unemployed adults.

“After four years of successful collaboration, it was the right time to scale the program and extend its impact across other parts of the country. With Bayan Academy’s leadership and grass-roots approach to entrepreneurship as well as with the support of the DepEd, we are assured that the program can add value to the DepEd’s educational reform agenda. With a knowledgeable, adaptive and financially empowered workforce, we contribute to economic development and address such issues as unemployment,” added Ms. Javier-Gutierrez. “We are thankful for institutions like JPMorgan Chase & Co. that continue to help us in our programs and even push us to pursue such meaningful endeavors. With our four years of partnership, we are happy that we are growing,” said Raul IE Manikan, Executive Director of Bayan Academy.

A total of 160 TLE teachers from 59 schools attended the six-day technopreneurship training held at the DepEd Quezon City Division Office. (Story/photo by Philip Felipe)