Wednesday, September 24, 2008 Government's employment program to be reviewed
A PRIVATE think-tank supported by the International Labor Organization (ILO) is set to review the training policies being conducted by the Commission on Higher Education (Ched) and the Technical Education Skills and Development Authority (Tesda).
Donald Dee, private sector's representative to the Presidential Task Force on Education Reform, said the ILO, a UN specialized agency that seeks the promotion of social justice and internationally recognized human and labor rights, has contracted the Universal Access to Competitiveness and Trade (U-ACT) to conduct the assessment.
According to Dee, there is a need to review certain policies to address the loopholes in the employment program of the government and determine as well the demand of these industries.
"We need to strengthen linkages between the academic community and the private sector to determine whether there is enough supply of graduates to fill in the demand or vice versa," he said.
He said the think-tank will assess the implementation of training policies of Ched, Tesda and the industry by looking into the various training needs, policies and existing programs of the different industries such as ship building, electronics, Business Process Outsourcing, healthcare, tourism, retail trade, maritime and engineering.
The project also aims to strengthen institutional linkages and cooperation between Ched, Tesda and industry, thus providing a feedback mechanism for matching and training of graduates with industry demands.
Its output will be presented before the task force for appropriate coordination with the government, Dee said.
"We expect that the project will create a long-term impact on public-private partnerships in the educational and labor supply/demand sector and on the employability of the country's labor force in specific industries and sectors," he added.
Ched chairman Emmanuel Angeles acknowledged the growing mismatch as one of the causes of unemployment among Filipino college graduates.
Angeles also stressed the need to tailor the courses offered to the current needs of the industry.
He called for the full implementation of the technical-vocational curriculum to address the problem.
Earlier, presidential education adviser Mona Valisno identified the eight industries as the most critical in terms of providing job opportunities for Filipino college graduates.
Quoting a study conducted by the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole), Valisno said that between 2006 and 2010 more than three million students will be graduating all over the Philippines and will be ready to join the country's labor force. It is also projected that about four million jobs will be created by different industries on the same period.
Records of the National Statistics Office (NSO) showed that unemployment rate rose by eight percent last April this year or from 2.7 million to 2.9 million Filipinos. (AH/Sunnex)
