Villanueva says improving ‘soft skills’ can also help fix job mismatch

FILE PHOTO: Senator Joel Villanueva. Bibo Nueva España/Senate PRIB

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Joel Villanueva on Wednesday said the improvement of “soft skills” could also help address job mismatch in the country while he agrees there is a need to review the education curriculum.

“Kailangan po talaga natin ng reporma sa sistema ng edukasyon ng ating bansa, mula sa curriculum at sa upskilling ng ating mga guro,” he said in a statement.

(We need reform in the country’s education system, from curriculum to the upskilling of teachers.)

“Maliban sa kailangang mag-improve ang performance natin sa STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) subjects, pagtuunan din po natin ng pansin ang ‘soft skills’ na makakatulong sa pagtatrabaho gaya ng values education at ang panukala isama ang labor education sa curriculum,” he pointed out.

(Aside from the need to improve our performance in STEM subjects, we should also pay attention to “soft skills” that would help in the performance of work like values education and the proposed inclusion of labor education in the curriculum.)

According to Villanueva, the government has started reforming the learning system to address job-skills mismatch with the passage of the Philippine Qualifications Framework Law, Excellence in Teacher Education Act, and the Tulong Trabaho Law. The senator is a proponent of these measures.

The Philippine Qualifications Framework Law ensures that the country’s education system and training are fit for the qualifications of employers worldwide.

The Excellence in Teacher Education Act aims for educators’ improvement under the Teacher Education Council, as it gives scholarships and training for teachers, while the Tulong Trabaho Law seeks to solve jobs-skills mismatch through free technical and vocational training and education.

Villanueva said he is pushing for the immediate establishment of the Second Education Commission in the 19th Congress so the country would have a comprehensive education system assessment to address the challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

“Na-endorse na po ito sa tanggapan ng Presidente para sa kanyang karampatang aksyon,” he said.

(This was already endorsed to the Office of the President for his appropriate action.)

“Handa po tayong makipag-ugnayan sa administrasyong Marcos para masiguro at mapabuti lalo ang implementasyon ng mga batas na ito, at makipagtulungan para sa mga dagdag na panukalang magrereporma ng ating sistema ng edukasyon,” he continued.

(We are ready to coordinate with the Marcos administration to ensure and enhance the implementation of these laws and work together for more reform proposals in our education system.)

Villanueva also expressed support for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s call for a review of the country’s education curriculum to fix the job mismatch.

Citing the 2019 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, Villanueva noted that Filipino students are the lowest in Math and Science.

READ: PH’s Grade 4 students lowest in math, science around the world — int’l study

The study showed that 81 percent of Grade 4 Filipino learners did not reach the low benchmark in Math, while 87 percent did not hit the low benchmark in Science.

KGA/abc