Don Bosco TVET Center - Tondo

I. INTRODUCTION/RATIONALE

BRIEF HISTORY OF DON BOSCO YOUTH CENTER – TONDO:

It was the dawn of May 1968, when the people of Barrio Magsaysay in Tondo, Manila witnessed the arrival of the Salesians of Don Bosco, a religious group of priests, brothers and sisters continuing the legacy and threading the path laid by their founder, St. John Bosco.
The said Saint is now the proclaimed Father, Teacher and Patron Saint of the Youth, who was born in August 1815 in Northern Italy. He started to become a man of God since he was a child and spent his entire life for the poor and abandoned youth particularly the young boys during his time.
Through the unwavering efforts and initiatives of the Salesians named, Fr. Miguel Solaroli, Fr. Roger Periorechi and Fr. John Benna, the Don Bosco Youth Center in Barrio Magsaysay, Tondo was founded.
In November 1971, a free vocational and technical skills training program intended for the boys was introduced. Its main purpose is to cater the educational needs of the area’s qualified young men who are abandoned or from underprivileged families. At the beginning, three courses were started to be offered namely, the Auto-Diesel Mechanic, General Machine Shop and Carpentry. In 1976, Welding Technology was added and a year later, another course intended to train future Seafaring men was brought in, with an idea that this program might contribute immensely in the progress of the socio-economic condition of the people in the area. Unfortunately, a termination of grant from Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) led to its abrogation in December 1983. During the same year, Carpentry was also abolished in the line-up of programs due to diminutive number of enrollees, while Electronics was included as a replacement of the latter.
On the other hand, the Salesian Nuns buckled down and paved the way for the establishment of training programs intended for the girls in 1971. The first course that they offered was Tailoring and Dressmaking, but as the Center’s response to the urgent demand of increasing number of female enrollees, two more courses were incorporated namely, the Hi-Speed Sewing in July 1980 and Secretarial Program in June 1987. The latter course was upgraded in 1989 when the Computer Education was integrated on it.
Another milestone was happened in June 1999, when the first class of Computer Technology Course was held for both young boys and girls who aspire to become computer literate/technicians.
The Youth Center continued its expansion when two additional courses were launched in March 1994, such as the Industrial Electronics and Refrigeration & Air-Conditioning.
Furthermore, in 1999 the six-month Basic Seaman Training Course was revived to train those aspiring young men who wanted to pursue their maritime career. Likewise, upgrading courses in Lathe Machine, and Welding were also established for veteran seamen.
Aside from the technical skills training program, the Center also exerts efforts and initiatives relevant to health and nutrition, sports and cultural activities, scholarship program, catechetical formations, livelihood-training program and housing project.
Today, the Center innovates itself as it tries to cope with the modern era by incorporating the innovative machineries and equipment to its programs which greatly contribute to the learning advancement of the students as well to the improvement of quality education. The Center also gives platform to the female students who yearn to undergo male courses such as the Welding Technology and Industrial Electronics and the like.


GOALS:

• As a charitable institution, Don Bosco Youth Center-Tondo offers free facilities to the poor. In turn, it is maintained and financed from donations and contributions of private and government individuals, corporations and organizations both in the country and abroad.
• As a religious institution, it takes care of the spiritual well being of the people through the services of its St. John Bosco Parish and other pastoral and religious organizations. The Salesian of Don Bosco (SDB) Fathers and Brothers and the Sister of Mary Help of Christians (FMA) run it. Spiritual development includes the acquisition of human values and the purpose of one’s being.
• As an educational institution, Don Bosco-Tondo offers a number of vocational and industrial courses to equip out-of-school youth, unemployed youth and adults with necessary skills to enable them to qualify for gainful employment after the training. Don Bosco-Tondo helps the people to educate themselves also through various self-help projects and economic undertakings within the community level.
• As a social institution, it provides the people with basic assistance through community and public activities in character formation, health, sports, arts and recreation, nutrition program and in other welfare services.

“It is not enough that we love our charges; we must make ourselves love by them, and this love must be translated into a family atmosphere of kindness, friendship and dialogue,” as goes the famous dictum of St. John Bosco as a saint and educator.

Salesians believe that affection is the rule of life. Each one must be considered as father, brother and friend. An affectionate confidence should be developing in their charges. In dealing with Don Bosco youth/trainees, they abide by Don Bosco’s principle of education where he emphasized that “If we want to be loved, we must make it clear to our pupils that we really love them. Anyone who is loved can get whatever he wants especially from the young.” This love makes us willing to suffer fatigue, annoyance, ingratitude, upsets and failings when dealing with our boys; when this love begins to fail, it is then that things no longer go well.

It is with this philosophy that Don Bosco – Tondo has been able to produce quality graduates and well-rounded students out of the often under-estimated youth of Tondo. A place once classified as “No Man’s Land” but which has, since then, become a place of new hope and a new vision, a place of love for the congregation of Don Bosco.

II. GENERAL POLICIES:

Financing of charitable institution like ours, the Don Bosco Youth Center-Tondo depends solely on contributions and oftentimes, unscheduled donations coming from both foreign and local sources. With the severe economic crisis in the country, the Center experiences the sudden termination of financial assistance from different donors. Despite of this dilemma, the Center can still manage to continue its operations successfully with the help of Divine Providence, which is the basic philosophy of all Salesians of Don Bosco.

III. PROGRAMS AND SERVICES:

*Automotive Servicing NCII
*Electrical Installation and Maintenance NCII
*Consumer Electronics Servicing NCII
*Machining NCI
*Bookkeeping NCIII
*Shielded Metal Arc Welding NCII

IV. TARGET CLIENTELE:

The following can avail of the various programs and services being offered by Don Bosco Youth Center – Tondo:

A. Skills Training Program
1. Young men/women coming from low income families, 18 to 30 years of age;
2. Completed the four years of secondary education;
3. Should pass the DBYC-TVET entrance examination;
4. And must have a strong desire to successfully finish the course where he/she is enrolled.

B. Catechetical Formation Program
1. Interested young ones who are at least third year high school or higher year educational level must be passed all types of examinations within the formation period.
2. He/she must have a strong desire and interest to be of service to others in terms of spreading the word of God.

C. Scholarship Program
1. He/she must belong to an underprivileged family;
2. Physically and mentally fit to study;
3. Must have an average of 85% and above;
4. A resident of Tondo, Manila;
5. And willing and interested to cooperate in the rules and regulations of the program.

V. AREA OF COVERAGE:

The Don Bosco Youth Center-Tondo was primarily established for the young ones of Barrio Magsaysay, but due to its inevitable success and in addition to the insistent call of apostolic mission, the Salesians decided to widen the area of its responsibility.

The Parish of St. John Bosco has a total of 17 barangays under its jurisdiction. Before, only those who live within the said areas are accepted as students, but today almost 40-45% of our trainees are non-barrio residents for we are now accepting trainees from the different areas of Tondo. The Center is also considering accepting students from other nearby cities and provinces depending on their qualifications.