Students on long break advised to take up vocational courses

Tesda Director General Joel Villanueva. tesda.gov.ph photo

MANILA, Philippines — What should high school graduates do with the extra time in their hands because some universities have changed their academic calendar?

Try taking technical courses during the four- or five-month-long break, according to Joel Villanueva, director general of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority or Tesda.

Tech-voc courses can be completed in a few months’ time, some even under a month’s time, he said.

While most universities will begin the new school year in June, UST will start classes in July while the University of the Philippines will start classes in August.

Addressing his fellow University of Santo Tomas High School alumni on Monday, Villanueva said a college degree does not automatically assure one a job or a successful career.

“Many graduates look to college after high school and wait for the school year opening in June or August. Instead of spending idle months, they may enroll in a tech-voc course that interests them,” he said.

Villanueva himself went straight to college and post-graduate studies after he finished high school in UST.

He earned his degree in Commerce (major in Economics) at UST before taking up Special Studies in Business Administration at Harvard University.

Villanueva, who was appointed to head Tesda in 2010, said high school graduates should think out of the box and see beyond the “traditional” path of a college education.

“It’s not always college education equals job equals success,” he said. “Jobs come easy when one possesses the knowledge and skills relevant to what the industries and employers need.”

He told the graduates to “think global and learn things” that will expand their employment opportunities.

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