Saturday, August 16, 2008 Dole 11 to boost quality of graduates
THE regional office of the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) in Southern Mindanao claimed there is a shortage of quality applicants in the region, adding that to help address this challenge in the labor industry, the agency has developed a module that will level up the quality of students and graduates.
Ofelia Domingo, assistant regional director of Dole-Southern Mindanao, said during Friday's edition of the Kapihan sa PIA that Dole has come up with the development of a Career Guidance Module in all educational levels to address the issue of mismatch of manpower with certain careers.
"Only Region 11 has a module for the elementary level, we believe that we should have to start from the young if we want to encourage students. We need to enhance the quality of our graduates and students, as early as in the elementary level, need to be molded on what value they have to possess," Domingo said.
Domingo claimed that out of 71 countries in the world, the Philippines only ranked 49th in terms of competitiveness and was placed 14th out of 15 Asian countries.
Domingo added that the module was developed with the assistance of 20 guidance counselors in 1999 and was implemented only in Region 11.
The objectives of the module is to enlighten the minds of young students of their gifts as a human being; to encourage elementary graduating students to establish long range objectives for themselves and gain the values necessary for the achievement of these objectives; and to help graduating elementary students choose subjects of their preference in the secondary level and thereby gain proficiency in these subjects in preparation for choosing their degrees in college.
It was learned that the module will be used by the schools' guidance counselors in educating students regarding their career paths.
"It is already a requirement for a student to attend a seminar conducted by the guidance counselor in order for him to be referred by the Peso for employment," Domingo said. (JGRS)
