‘There is nothing to worry, we will ‘cure' our deficiencies,' says STI prexy

By Florence F. Hibionada

“The students have the right to be concerned but we want to assure them and their parents that we are working to cure our deficiencies and will comply with the requirements.  We just had some problems that caused the delay.”

Such was the explanation of STI-Iloilo President Francis Benedicto following the order for said school to stop running its Diploma in Health Nursing Aide course. 

The problem was made public after a student called the attention of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda).  In a response, Tesda confirmed that such program remains unregistered thus a clear violation of STI's permit.

In a phone interview, Benedicto told The News Today that STI-Iloilo administration has since worked overtime to comply with the government-mandated permits.  The problem, he explained, was due to a failed contract with a hospital relative to the course requirement “but we are taking care of it and certainly, we will be able to address this problem.”

A meeting was set with STI and the Tesda yesterday (Thursday).  Results remain unknown as of press time.

“We would like to clarify though that all our other courses have no problem with Tesda.  It is just our Diploma in Health Nursing Aide but again, we are complying and we are confident that we will be able to resolve it in soonest time,” Benedicto added.