Bolster K-12 program to address jobs-skills mismatch in PH – Villanueva

Senator Joel Villanueva. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Joel Villanueva on Thursday underscored the need to strengthen the K-12 curriculum to address the issue of jobs-skills mismatch and underemployment in the country.

Villanueva, chair of the Senate labor committee, issued this statement after the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that underemployment rate in the country in April 2019 stands at 13.5 percent.

According to PSA, underemployment is defined as “employed persons who express the desire to have additional hours of work in their present job, or to have additional job, or to have a new job with longer working hours.”

In a move to address this, Villanueva said the K-12 program should be enhanced to correspond with demands in the prevailing job market.

“We need to focus on resolving jobs-skills mismatch if we are to address underemployment in the country,” Villanueva said in a statement.

“Kasama sa pag-aayos ng mismatch na ito ang pagpapalakas sa K-12 curriculum, partikular sa Senior High School. We need to align the curriculum with the current job market,” he added.

Villanueva also vowed to work with the Department of Education (DepEd) in the 18th Congress.

“I look forward to the results of the K-12 curriculum review being conducted by DepEd. I am also eager to work closer with Secretary Briones and DepEd in the 18th Congress to improve the quality of education in the country,” Villanueva said.

PSA said employment rate in the country improved to 94.9 percent from the 94.5 percent in April 2018 while unemployment rate dropped to 5.1 percent in April 2019 from 5.5 percent in April 2018. (Editor: Katherine G. Adraneda)