Technical High School Program

This program is designed for poor but promising youth who wish to finish high school and learn an employable technical skill at the same time. The five-year formal high school program offered at ERDA TECH allows students to specialize in a technical course of their choice during the third and fourth years, followed by in-plant training in a company partner’s workplace according to the Dual Training System during the fifth year.

Borne out of the pressing problem of the increasing number of street children and school dropouts due to poverty, Fr. Pierre Tritz, a man with an unwavering vision for the poor, decided to put up a technical school that would provide high school education and training in employable technical skills to poor and deserving youth.

In 1993, the ERDA Technical and Vocational Secondary School (ERDA TECH) was established in Pandacan, Manila. This technical school was conceived to keep children in school and equip them with knowledge and skills that would enable them to pull themselves out of poverty.

ERDA TECH opened its doors in June 1994 to 295 first-year students. It has since graduated more than 800 students. A majority of 70% of the graduates are pursuing college degrees and technical courses, while the remaining 30% opted to enter the work force upon graduation.

Students of ERDA TECH go through an innovative, five-year formal education and training program.  Armed with a high school diploma and skills certificate, each graduate has a better-than-average chance of making it in a technologically driven job market.

ERDA TECH is the first and only technical high school in the country with a five-year curriculum and an innovative formal education program that uses a tri-system mode of education.

The Tri-System Mode of Education:

Academic Secondary Education

Under this program, students undertake all regular academic subjects required by the Department of Education over the first four years.  These subjects include the basic competencies – English, Math and Science, Filipino and all subjects of Makabayan learning area, except Technology and Livelihood Education.

Technical Training Program

Alongside the academic program, the students also undergo a graduated technical training program covering the duration of their first four years.  On the students’ fifth and last year, they undergo a training program that makes use of the Dual Training System (DTS) covering 10 priority trades.  The DTS includes a five-month in-plant training program to help immerse students in a real-world work setup.

Human Development Re-orientation Program

This program helps underprivileged students, who are barely in their teens, to adopt life skills, positive values, and attitudes through Values Education and relevant teachings which are effectively integrated into the curriculum throughout their stay at ERDA TECH.  This includes a specially developed curriculum on adolescent reproductive health and HIV/AIDS education.

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