Boosting Employability in Strategic TVET Sectors (BEST) Project (WB-P508080)

Countries
  • Philippines
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Financial Institutions
  • World Bank (WB)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Proposed
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
B
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Dec 18, 2026
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
Department of Finance
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Industry and Trade
  • Technical Cooperation
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Advisory Services, Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 235.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Loan Amount (USD)
$ 235.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Project Cost (USD)
$ 235.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Bank Documents
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ WB website

Updated in EWS Sep 28, 2026

Disclosed by Bank Jun 23, 2025

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Contact the EWS Team

Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

According to bank's website, the proposed project aims to help the Philippines build a more inclusive, responsive, and labor market-aligned TVET system that supports access to more and better jobs. The project will focus on priority sectors with strong employment potential--including construction, agri-fisheries, ICT/digital, and manufacturing--while targeting disadvantaged learners who face financial, information, and readiness barriers to training. By combining foundational skills support, training credits, stipends, and clearer learning and career pathways, the project will help more learners enter and complete TVET programs that are relevant to local labor market demand.The project is expected to improve job outcomes by strengthening both the supply and demand sides of the skills system. On the supply side, it will improve learner readiness, certification, and access to market-relevant programs through the Skills Passport, foundational skills assessments, remedial learning, and nationally recognized credentials. On the demand side, it will expand enterprise-based training, micro-credentials, upgraded TESDA Technology Institutes, and stronger employer engagement so that training better reflects current and emerging skills needs. These reforms are expected to increase employment in related occupations, improve worker productivity and earnings, and strengthen pathways into higher-quality jobs in priority growth sectors.

Early Warning System Project Analysis
For a project with severe or irreversible impacts to local community and natural resources, the Early Warning System Team may conduct a thorough analysis regarding its potential impacts to human and environmental rights.

Environmental and Social Risk: M

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

Total Project Cost: US$ 235.00 million

Commiment Amount: US$ 235.00 million 


Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

Task Team Leader: Tara Beteille 

Title: Lead Economist, Program Leader 

Email: tbeteille@worldbank.org 

TTL Contact: Ruth Reyes Rodriguez 

Title: Senior Social Protection Specialist 

Email: rrodriguez2@worldbank.org 

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

To submit an information request for project information, you will have to create an account to access the Access to Information request form. You can learn more about this process at: https://www.worldbank.org/en/access-to-information/request-submission

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF THE WORLD BANK

The World Bank Inspection Panel is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by a World Bank-financed project. If you submit a complaint to the Inspection Panel, they may investigate to assess whether the World Bank is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. You can contact the Inspection Panel or submit a complaint by emailing ipanel@worldbank.org. Information on how to file a complaint and a complaint request form are available at: https://www.inspectionpanel.org/how-to-file-complaint

How it works

How it works