Saturday, September 06, 2008 Pinoy workers abroad are being discriminated: official
FILIPINO professionals are being discriminated in other countries when they seek employment, presidential education adviser Mona Valisno said.
Valisno said despite the good credentials of Filipino professionals, they are still being discriminated when they vie for jobs with counterparts from other nations because the Philippines is the only country in the world still implementing a 10-year basic education curriculum.
"We have good professionals anywhere in the world. They cannot and should not be discriminated based on our 10-year education cycle. The productivity of our professionals are not comparable with the other professionals from other countries,” said Valisno.
She said many Filipino professionals are not able to land good jobs or the jobs their degree requires because their credentials are based on a 10-year basic education program, which is not recognized globally.
Early this year, Mongolia joined the rest of the world after Nepal in extending its basic education curriculum from 10 to 12 years.
Even neighboring Southeast Asian Nations has a 12-year basic education program. Most countries in Europe implement a 13-year basic education program, it was learned.
According to Valisno, only professionals from institutions like the Asian Institute of Management (AIM), Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University (DLSU) and the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman, Manila and Los Baños are internationally recognized.
She said that in terms of professions, only nurses and doctors who take the nursing licensure examination get the nod of international employers.
Commission on Higher Education (Ched) chairman Manny Angeles voiced support to proposal to add two more years to the country’s basic education in order to conform to global standards and improve the quality of education.
Angeles said: “To improve the chances, it is imperative that we should add at least two more years to our basic education. Even Bangladesh has a 12-year basic education curriculum.”
The Philippine Business for Education (PBED), a newly organized group of chief executives and chief operating officers representing major corporations, said there is a need to adopt a basic education sector reform agenda and evolve a globally responsive post-secondary education system.
PBED’s idea of improving the quality of education in the Philippines calls for the reestablishment of the pre-tertiary bridge program, which encountered stiff opposition when the idea was first introduced in 2004.
It said the idea is to prepare the country’s students for college better through the establishment of a Grade VII in the elementary level and a fifth year in high school.
For her part, Valisno said it is central to implement the recommendations of the Presidential Task Force on Education to ensure acceptability and recognition of Filipino skills' competencies and credentials.
Among the recommendations are the addition of two more years to the existing 10-year education curriculum that will focus mainly on technical and vocational skills of students, strengthening of industry-academe linkages, and establishment of a more credible and reliable assessment test for students.
The taskforce has likewise drafted a strategy towards the recognition of Filipino professionals.
The recommendations include:
* Establish collaboration and understanding between and among respective professional organizations to establish commitment;
* Define international standards for the practice of specific professions together with general guidelines and standards that are universally acceptable;
* Establish recognition within the professionals by finding appropriate means to recognize which certification schemes for assessing competency meet the standards established for a specific profession; and
* Achieve external recognition by getting employers and government organizations to recognize the credentials of Filipino professionals. (AH/Sunnex)
