The new K+12 education program is one way of addressing the country’s unemployment woes.
Fr. Dionisio Miranda, president of the University of San Carlos, said the reforms in the educational system would help address this problem.
The K+12 program of the government requires students to undergo kindergarten classes, and two more years of high school.
In K+12, there is a Philippines Qualifications Framework (PQF), where technical and vocational courses are introduced, said Miranda during the Conference of Asia-Pacific Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CACCI) at the Radisson Blu Hotel last Thursday.
road map
In the PQF, “technopreneurship” and “green” skills for “green” jobs are also included and students’ would be assessed according to their competencies and skills related to the topics.
In Level One, which is in Grade 10, a student will receive a National Certificate I after he passes the level of competence in knowledge, skills, and values for that level.
In Level Two, which is already between grades 11 and 12, a student will receive a National Certificate II if he passes the different standards for the level.
“A student in the Philippine system, coming out of junior high or senior high, and for the first year can acquire a national certificate in the various categories. With that, they can already go to work,” Miranda said.
missing link
“That is the missing link we had in the Philippines. That is why the reform components are very critical,” Miranda added.
There are also National Certificates III and IV, which are for students who want to focus on technical skills.
After taking the national certificates III and IV, a student can take the post baccalaureate then doctoral and post doctoral education which a person can now be classified a Level 8 professional.
“That degree would be recognized in a Malaysian Qualifications format. This means that if a Filipino would go to Malaysia and brings his degree with him, then he will be recognized there,” Miranda said.
Miranda said as of the moment, there’s a mismatch between our education and present day jobs.
“That’s a great missing link in our educational system and we’re going to need to understand these levels once ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) opens up because the rest of the world is going to come here and will be bringing along with them their certificates,” he said.
“Your diploma would not mean very much. What would mean more is the diploma supplement which describes what you can actually do or cannot do,” Miranda said referring to the national certificates.
old system
Miranda said the old educational system, the K+10 program, lacked more years of quality education and made vocational courses as an afterthought, which were not the case with some ASEAN member countries.
Dato Ghazali Bin Dato Mohd Yusoff, executive chairman Nusantara Technologies Sdn Bhd, said the Malaysian education was focused in providing equal access to quality education of an international standardand they had already formatted their education in a way that it could meet the needs of the industry.