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History of Manpower Skills Training Center MSTC... for the Marginalized Youth The Don Bosco Training Center of Makati, now known to many as the Manpower Skills Training Center (MSTC), has been a part of the Don Bosco Makati community since 1971. For over thirty years, the MSTC has already trained and assisted over 10,000 out-of-school youth who have come from various parts of Luzon, including Manila, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Quezon… The Center has transformed the lives of these young people who would otherwise become victims of social evils into active and productive citizens. It has kept hundreds of out-of-school youth off the streets by providing them with tuition-free one-year vocational training and still is currently providing training for more than 500 youth in one-year courses in Automotive, Electrical, Electronics, Machine Shop, and Refrigeration and Air-conditioning. The center has received much of its financial support from its mother institution and from local funding agencies and countless generous individuals. This noble endeavor of the Salesian congregation was borne out of a deep love of its founder, St. John Bosco for the poor youth of Turin in the 1800s. Don Bosco dedicated his whole life in establishing skills training centers to help thousands of abandoned youth. His centers had done marvels and had saved many from the clutches of vices and evil. Since then, the legacy has lived on and has been kept by the Salesians whose ardent zeal and tireless effort continued the work of their founder.
To propagate the work of Don Bosco, Don Bosco Technical Institute-Makati started a youth center in 1953 for the poor and idle youth in the neighborhood. First, it was to attract and invite them to join and play in its various sports activities and to attend catechism classes. But when the number of youth who flocked to the youth center doubled, the Salesian priest and brothers opened the elementary and high school departments in 1954 on a swampy lot in Bo. Pio del Pilar.
The set-up would not only provide values formation but also basic education to thousand of young boys. What was unique and pioneering especially in the high school curriculum was its technical orientation.The original plan was to recruit the poor youth, provide them with high school education and equip them with technical skills that they could use to land in profitable skilled jobs. The objective was for the high school graduates to work immediately after completion and use the income derived from employment to pursue college education.
The plan was further developed. The concept would now cater to the out-of-school youth. In 1971, Bro. Louis Parolin then was the coordinator of the technical high school, experimented with the first batch of out-of-school youth. Initially, he accepted two (2) trainees per skill and provided them with stipend and tools. He painstakingly took time in preparing the shops and opened one-year technical skill training courses in Automotive, Electrical, Electronics, Machine Shop, and Printing. He tapped the high school technology teachers to teach the new entrants and personally followed up on each trainee. The project lasted until 1973 when the good news came and things got better. All the graduates of the program were employed and their employers were extremely pleased with their performance. The outstanding job placement rate and the encouraging feedback which Bro. Parolin received pushed him to aim higher. He eventually increased the number of beneficiaries from ten (10) to forty (40), to one hundred (100) out-of-school youth by 1974. The good news spread throughout the neighborhood and reached other far-flung areas such that in a matter of months youth from Batangas and Laguna started to apply for the one-year courses. This meant additional workload for Bro. Parolin since expansion would entail expenses.
By 1979, a breakthrough was achieved. The Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) approved a five-year scholarship grant to half of the population of the training program. The financial assistance extended by PBSP proved that the program did make an impact and helped hundreds of families of underprivileged youth. Part of the assistance package was to put up a Job Placement Office that would develop and implement innovative programs that would ensure employment and industry exposure for the Center's hundreds of trainees and graduates. So, what used to be just a part of Don Bosco Makati had now become a Center. Now the stage was set.
In the 1980s, milestones were established. The three-month on-the-job training (OJT) scheme was integrated into the curriculum and was institutionalized to provide job opportunities and exposure to industry environment for the out-of-school youth. Pre-employment seminars and job motivation sessions were organized in addition to religion classes. The industry-school linkage was strengthened for the center to gain significant access to training and technology transfer. In spite of the difficult and unstable political and economical situation that prevailed during the early 1980s, the Center was able to place 95% of its trainees for OJT and 85% of its graduates for employment.
By 1987, non-government organizations (NGOs) approached the Center to financially support parts of training of its beneficiaries. The Rotary Club of Makati West, the ADB Women's Club and the Philippine National Bank Foundation sponsored a significant number of out-of-school youth. The Bukas Palad Foundation assisted Don Bosco in developing its Refrigeration and Air-conditioning Technology course and introduced the concept of the evening course for working adults.
As the country moves towards the attainment of a Newly-Industrializing Country status by the year 2000, the Don Bosco Training Center for its part has made initiatives in developing its faculty, curriculum and physical resources. It's supervisors and instructors had gone through various seminars and workshops in teaching methodologies and educational technology. The Center has already sent key faculty members to Japan, Korea, Thailand, and India to train in special fields.
ince 1971, only five (5) technical directors have so far served the Center. Bro. Louis Parolin SDB, the longest staying ever, served from 1971 to 1986, was assigned in Tondo from 1987 to 1994, then came back to Makati in December 1994 and held the post until May 1999. Fr. Mario Baclig SDB managed it from 1986 to 1987. Fr. Virgilio Tolentino SDB took over in 1987 till 1988. Bro. Elmer Rodriguez SDB was the technical director from 1988 to 1990, was assigned to Don Bosco - Canlubang from 1990 to 1999, then came back to Makati in June 1999 and up to now the current Technical Director of the MSTC. Bro. Jess Garcia SDB, presently assigned in Papua New Guinea, held the directorship from 1990 up to December 1994.
The greatest achievement that could be attributed to the Center's service to the out-of-school youth is its effective system of bringing about emotional and moral transformation in the lives of its beneficiaries through skills training. Many youth after undergoing a rather short period of technical education experience a complete turnaround in the way they view life and live life. They become productive and optimistic about the future. Their perspective changes. They have learned and appreciated the value of hardwork. They are converted from a background of brokeness and failure to a life of wholeness and hopeful anticipation of better things to come.
Don Bosco's dream is to prepare skilled workers who are competitive in the world market and who value their dignity as persons. The Salesians of Don Bosco together with its lay collaborators and friends hope that with the continued support of many generous entities, the Center will be able to play an important and significant role in the lives of thousands of out-of-school youth and provide them the tool towards a better life.
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