TESDA offers course on content creation

Swan Anding Meraluo rehearses a dance sequence in Quezon City on May 4, 2022. She regularly produces content for her TikTok account, which she hopes to monetize. ABS-CBN News/File  

 MANILA — The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) is offering a course on content creation in a bid to professionalize the industry which has become a “key employment generator.”

The course was launched last December with the help of the Kapisanan ng Social Media Broadcasters ng Pilipinas.

 “They (Kapisanan) were the ones who requested TESDA to develop the standards… They want to professionalize the content creators to prevent proliferations of fake news, to have a standard and best practice for content creation,” said Rosanna Urdaneta, TESDA Deputy Director General for Policies and Planning.

 The course comes with competency standards that TESDA identified such as competencies on researching, translating content into understandable material, and effectively marketing it to the public.

 There is no educational requirement for students who would like to enroll. They should, however, be at least 15 years old.

 The course lasts for 140 hours or 17.5 days.

 The cost of tuition will depend on the school, but scholarships may be offered.

 According to Urdaneta, credits of the course can be used for higher education.

 “Things can be credited for the collegial level,” Urdaneta noted. “If they want to go sa course of Mass Communication, then they go to Mass Communication later. Or even sa Business Management, sa Sales.”

 Currently, there is only one school that has applied for registration in order to offer the course. TESDA hopes other learning institutions will follow suit.

 'PROMISING'

 For Caren Torres-Basco, a content creator of eight years, the new course is promising.

 “Kung merong kasama sa instructions nila sa manual nila na hindi ko pa alam, I would love to learn that,” Torres-Basco said.

 She started vlogging about kids’ toys in 2016, later on moving to content for moms, and now makes content about lifestyle to augment their income.

 For the 36-year-old, having a set of guidelines is important.

 “As a content creator, dapat alam mo kung ano ‘yung message mo, ano ‘yung niche mo, ano ‘yung gusto mong ipakita sa vlog mo o sa content mo hindi lang ‘yung just because ano ang naghi-hit, nagva-viral,” Torres-Basco said.

 Another content creator, 19-year-old Athena Joyce Apolinario, also expressed interest in the course.

 “Matulungan po ako na paano mag-time management since nag-aaral po ako habang nagco-content creator. And yung sa editing po para po mas mapaganda,” Apolinario said.

 Apolinario started vlogging in 2020 and now makes content for beauty products of local brands.

“May mga nag-reach out po sa akin na mga local brands na i-endorse ko raw po ‘yung mga products nila… makakakuha po ako ng konting commission … pandagdag sa school po para sa mga miscellaneous,” she shared.

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