Monday, May 05, 2008 Good education is key to improve human resources By Danilo V. Adorador III
QUALITY education, which translates to skilled and highly literate pool of labor force, remains the linchpin of a competitive and productive economy, local academe and business officials stressed.
"Education - good education - is the key the development of the country's human resources," said Fr. Jose Ramon Villarin, president of Xavier University. "Even if you have capital and infrastructure in place and the quality of labor or the productivity per capita is low, then all is lost."
Villarin underscored this point during the pre-launching press conference of the Asian Institute of Management's (AIM) 3rd Leadership Forum, where he spoke on the role of academe in strengthening the local economy's competitiveness.
While labor cost is relatively cheap in the Philippines, Villarin said the country can corner more foreign investments by "adding value to labor output."
"It's not enough that we have cheap labor; we must cut down on low-value jobs so that it's not only labor that we are competing, but value," he said.
Not only will it spur the local economy, but having a highly literate human resource would also make the Philippines more competitive in the world labor market, he added, noting that the country being is one of the largest labor exporters in the world.
For his part, Cagayan de Oro Chamber of Commerce (Oro Chamber) President Rodolfo Meñes said the steady stream of highly-skilled workers is one of the region's major economic drivers.
Meñes however said that with the influx of labor-intensive investments in Northern Mindanao lately, local governments in the region have a lot of catching to do in boosting its labor component.
"We have people, but they need more training; their skills and literacy urgently need upgrade to fill the disparity between the available jobs and talents the labor market requires," he said.
To do its part in addressing the problem, Meñes said Oro Chamber is partnering with government and non-government organizations to help provide training for workers.
Labor force and other economic drivers are some of the issues that will be tackled during the AIM forum this Friday, to be held at the Pryce Plaza Hotel.
The forum, spearheaded by the AIM Alumni Association-Cagayan de Oro chapter (AAAIM-CdeO), is set to tackle the City Competitive Report for Cagayan de Oro, and the unveiling of the city's creative brand story - a video and audio ad highlighting Cagayan de Oro's market identity.
