Senator Edgardo Angara. INQUIRER file photo
The number of college graduates has been growing too slowly in the last decade, threatening the country’s supply of qualified human capital, a national statistics body has said.
Figures released by the National Statistics Coordination Board (NSCB) showed that the total number of college graduates increased by only 2.9 percent in 2010 and accounted for just 2 percent of those within the prime employable age bracket of 20 to 34.
The number of college graduates “has not risen fast enough,” says the NSCB, with the total figure increasing from 363,640 in 2001 to 481,862 in 2010.
Figures compiled by the NSCB from the Commission on Higher Education also showed a decrease in the number of graduates in courses considered priority disciplines, or those deemed by government as critical for national development. These include courses in education science, teacher training and engineering and technology.
The number of graduates in these disciplines has been decreasing in the last decade, according to the NSCB.
Of the total number of graduates in 2001, 31.3 percent finished courses in education, engineering and technology. This figure went down to 22 percent by 2010.
Who will build our future?
“The share of graduates of education and teacher training and engineering and technology to total higher education graduates is on the downtrend. Who will build our future?” the NSCB said.
While the number of graduates in Metro Manila has been declining, several regions were seen to be building their manpower base, including Central and Southern Luzon.
Citing the telling statistics, Senator Edgardo Angara, chairman of the Senate committee on education, arts and culture, called for more decisive state action on the quality of education in the country.
“Various studies have already been published around the world on how we direly need to improve our education system. But with very clear, empirical data, our very own people are already sounding the alarm for us to act immediately on reversing these worrisome trends,” Angara said in a statement.
To develop more qualified graduates, the government is pursuing reforms in the education system, particularly the K to 12 (Kindergarten to Year 12) program.
The basic education program hopes to develop high school graduates fit for employment.
“(T)hese marginal improvements will not be sufficient to build our knowledge base as a nation” while it competes “against the knowledge-based economies of the third millennium,” said the NSCB report released on April 18.
Originally posted at 07:53 pm | Wednesday, May 02, 2012