Wednesday, January 03, 2007 Echaves: LEP for the core By Lelani P. Echaves
BETTER, but not enough. So points the Philippine labor force survey in October 2006. Compared to the same period in 2005, employment rate rose to 92.7 percent versus 92.6 percent. But unemployment rate remained at 7 percent, or over 2.6 million people.
Who comprise the unemployed? Close to 50 percent were in 15-24 age range. One of every three unemployed (33 percent) was at most a high school graduate, while 19 percent were college graduates.
And there’s the rub. In a country that churns out more college graduates than some of its Asian neighbors, why do over 1 million Filipinos still end up jobless? It’s not that there are no jobs, says then labor secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas; rather, “what we have are jobs looking for people to fill them up, and people who are not qualified for the available jobs.”
Against this disconnect between higher education and business needs, and those 1.4 to 1.6 million jobs per year committed by President Arroyo, how does one bridge this continuing divide, and address this disconnect?
DepEd Secretary Jesli Lapus wants to reintroduce the college entrance tests for high school graduates. Non-passers will enter vocational schools. Also, he suggests decongesting popular courses. Thus, raise the tuition fees for “oversubscribed” courses like law, liberal arts and business management, while lowering those for math and science and offering scholarships.
What’s appearing to be very workable is the Ladderized Education Program (LEP) devised by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) and the Commission on Higher Education (Ched). Launched in 2004, LEP is the best thing yet for out-of-school youths, school dropouts and poor high school students, because of the many benefits.
The usual way of earning a college degree is to finish the required four or five years one level after another. Under LEP, a student attends a vocational school first, learns a skill, gets employed, and saves money towards getting the desired college degree when he can afford it. This vocational course will be credited in a university or college program.
The total number of schooling years need not take longer. For instance, a student eyeing a BS in Hotel and Restaurant Management/Tourism could first start with a 6-month course in Housekeeping. She gets a national certification attesting to her new skills, which now equip her to work requiring such skills.
While working, she could stop schooling meantime, or move on to another 6-month course, in Commercial Cooking. After this, she could proceed---still while working---to six months for Food and Beverage Service, another six months for Front Office Services, and still another six months for Bartending.
As she adds to her skills, each time validated by a national certification, she rises to job platforms and more employment doors open to her. Her accumulated work experiences give her a valuable competitive edge over those with college degrees but no work experience.
Having spent 2.5 years learning and applying different kinds of skills, she is just 1.5 years shy of the full college degree---six months for bridging subjects as mathematics, English and science, and the last year for the B.S. in HRM/Tourism curriculum.
Tesda hands out scholarships through 200 schools approved for LEP offerings in agriculture, education, engineering, information communication technology, nursing, maritime, tourism and criminology ---courses greatly in demand, per Ched Commissioner Nona Ricafort, in national and global markets.
In Region 7, LEP-interested parties may inquire from Don Bosco Technology Center in Punta Princesa, Cebu City; and soon, the Cebu State College of Science and Technology on Palma Street. With more schools embracing LEP, the Philippines just might lift the masses from joblessness, the core of poverty in this country.
