GRADUATION RITES. The Department of Transportation and Philippine Railways Institute hold face-to-face and virtual commencement exercises on Friday (April 29, 2022) for 301 personnel who completed refresher and training courses. After completing the management and technical courses, they had to hurdle a comprehensive examination. (Photo courtesy of DOTr)
MANILA – A total of 301 railway personnel have completed two training courses at the Philippine Railways Institute (PRI) and were recognized in a graduation ceremony aired online.
The graduates, consisting of 260 railway operations and maintenance (O&M) personnel who completed the refresher training (RT) training course and 41 who completed the fundamental (FT) training course, were awarded certificates during the blended graduation ceremony aired on Facebook Friday.
The Department of Transportation (DOTr) said the RT course provided training to existing railway O&M personnel on passenger management, fare and ticketing management, commercial train driving, and railway maintenance.
To date, 37 batches of trainees have completed the RT course since its launch in October 2019.
Under the FT course, newly hired railway O&M personnel, graduating students, and other aspiring applicants study the same competencies in addition to non-commercial driving; tracks and guideway maintenance; building and facilities maintenance; power supply and distribution maintenance; signaling and communication maintenance; and rolling stock maintenance.
Since June 2021, the PRI has completed three cycles of the FT course.
Coinciding with the ceremony was the launch of FT course textbooks and virtual reality programs for various railway projects, such as the Metro Manila Subway depot and station structures.
The training materials will ensure that all railway personnel in the country comply with the existing standard and best practices from local and international railway organizations.
The PRI was established under the Duterte administration through Executive Order No. 96, series 2019, as the first railway training institution under the supervision of the DOTr.
The PRI is the primary policy-making, planning, implementing, regulating, and administrative agency on human resource development in the Philippine railway sector and will support current and future railway infrastructure developments under the “Build, Build, Build” program. (PNA)
