Section 3Sec./Art. 3

General Mandate.

With the recent major developments challenging the Philippine higher and technical skills education priorities and mandates, namely: (a) the adoption of the Philippine Qualifications Framework (PQF); (b) the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) economic integration; and (c) the rapidly changing demands of the industry and the labor market at both the domestic and global market, it becomes imperative for the CASIFMAS-Ragay Campus to convert into a technical-vocational education institute to effect a major curricular program shift towards the development of world-class Filipino workforce equipped with practical and technical skills of global competence in programs responsive to labor-driven skills demand at both the domestic and global market, and aligned with the ASEAN integration framework and other relevant international agreements for technical-vocational education.

The Institute shall endeavor to offer practical specialty courses in aquaculture, fisheries and related aqua-trade industry, as well as higher level competency qualifications in technical industrial education, and trade technology. It shall continue to upgrade its curricular standards as a tertiary TESDA-polytechnic institution that caters to wide-ranging specialized technical skills courses and competency-compliant practical knowledge application.

The Institute shall offer a wide-array of one (1)-year to three (3)-year TESDA-registered technical-vocational curricular skills training programs and certificate courses, and shall aim to meet, as a long-term goal, the maximum competency requirements under Level V of the PQF, which is the Diploma Level in technical-vocational education. It shall primarily provide tertiary undergraduate technical-vocational education, and shall likewise ensure to provide the various skills trainings and trade specialization relevant to the needs of the province as well as specifically geared towards the acquisition of employable skills, gainful employment, practical livelihood and entrepreneurship.

The Institute shall play a pivotal role in primarily helping the students and out-of-school youth and residents from low-income families, including persons with disabilities, in the Municipality of Ragay and its adjacent municipalities in the Province of Camarines Sur to become productive, self-reliant and to be developed into globally competitive middle to high-level skilled labor force to hasten the social and economic development of the Province of Camarines Sur, in particular, as well as meet the manpower placement needs of both local and international labor market, in general.

The Institute shall consider in the design of relevant technical-vocational training programs and courses to be offered thereat a competency assessment of the socioeconomic profile, employment conditions and opportunities, business climate, market and industry potentials, resources available and presence of support structures, including the literacy level and skills readiness, and the overall development needs of the host area and adjacent communities within the operational radius of the Institute established hereto.

It shall likewise consider the relevant skills and trade competencies, craftsmanship training programs and entrepreneurship activities needed to deliver the effective employment and development interventions required to make the Municipality of Ragay and all localities comprising the Province of Camarines Sur as human resource capital and economic productivity hubs. The Institute shall also serve as TESDA-accredited Assessment Center for acquired competencies in technical-vocational skills in the entire Province of Camarines Sur. Admission to the Institute and priority availment of technical-vocational education thereat, including scholarships and grants-in-aid, shall be given to the most disadvantaged citizens of the Municipality of Ragay and to the most economically depressed areas in the province.

Further, as deemed necessary and practicable, in coordination with the Department of Education (DepED) and TESDA, the Institute shall render relevant teachers' training assistance and curriculum design to the secondary schools offering technical-vocational livelihood (TVL) track under the K to 12 Program of the DepED in the communities and areas in the Province of Camarines Sur within the operational radius of the Institute.