President Benigno Aquino III. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
Six government agencies and concerned stakeholders on Thursday convened a career guidance congress to address the mismatch between available human resources and the kinds of jobs required by Philippine industries.
President Benigno Aquino III thanked the participants, career guidance counselors and stakeholders at the National Career Advocacy Congress for taking the time to formulate programs that would guide students in choosing the right course that would guarantee stable employment after graduation.
He cited the efforts of the Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Education, Commission on Higher Education, Professional Regulation Commission and Department of Science and Technology for organizing the conference.
“This serves as a launching pad of plans and programs that will guide the future of the Filipino youth. Thank you very much to our career guidance counselors for guiding our youth towards growth,” Mr. Aquino said.
“With your help, we can prevent the hasty entry into fields that offer no employment opportunities,” he added.
Mr. Aquino indicated that good governance had already resulted in P746.8 billion worth of investments in 2011. He said this had resulted in the creation of 194,917 jobs.
The amount of investments in 2011 represented an increase of 37.6 percent from P542.7 billion in 2010.
“It’s clear where good governance is taking us. We are moving towards growth,” the President said.
He said a total of 1.1 million jobs were generated in 2011. While he considered the figure considerable, the President wants to further increase it in the coming years because of the one million added to the country’s work force every year.
Malacañang said the congress was the flagship activity of the Career Guidance Advocacy Program, one of the four programs under the human development and poverty reduction cluster of the Cabinet. Norman Bordadora