Academicians: Some senior high grads not ready for college studies

(SunStar file photo)
(SunStar file photo)

SOME senior high school graduates are not ready for college studies.

This was the sentiment of the academicians who were invited to speak during a consultative conference hosted by the the Department of Education (DepEd) 7 Cebu City Schools Division on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2019. Representatives from the academe, business sector and the government attended the event held in Cebu City.

Amis Pacamalan, assistant dean of the Cebu Institute of Technology-University’s (CIT-U) College of Engineering and Architecture, said strand or background mismatch is among the challenges they are dealing with in college education.

“In our university, engineering and architecture is the biggest college. What we have observed is that some are ready; others are not ready because of their background. Meaning: some of them are not from science, technology, engineering and mathematics strand,” she said.

Bridging knowledge

Pacamalan said other students came out of senior high school with a different set of learning and skills that are not related to engineering or architecture studies.

She said they asked some senior high school graduates with associate degrees in business management why they chose to enroll in engineering.

“They said they want to be an engineer and so we cannot do anything about it,” Pacamalan said.

To address this problem, CIT-U offers bridge programs.

“Our bridging is in mathematics. We require them to enroll in pre-calculus, general chemistry and general physics,” Pacamalan said.

Edgar Detoya, dean of the University of San Jose-Recoletos’s College of Commerce, shared the same sentiment. He said some students who enrolled themselves in commerce courses came from learning strands outside accountancy, business and management.

Student’s survival

Bench Lee Abadilla graduated from senior high school with a technical, vocational and livelihood strand. However, he is now an electrical engineering student at CIT-U.

“Based on my experience, I was confused if I would pursue engineering or not because at the time I applied (for) engineering, I was told if I was sure about it since I am a tech-voc graduate. They said there is a big chance I could not survive engineering,” he said.

Abadilla said surviving college studies depends on a student’s coping strategies.

After the conference, the Cebu City Schools Division will meet with the different administrators and senior high school coordinators to plan on how they could address these gaps, according to Faviolito Alberca, division coordinator for senior high school. (WBS)

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