THE goal for licensed professionals to step up their game through seeking professional development is plausible – had it not been for hindrances for the professionals to do so.
The CPD Professional Regulatory Commission’s (PRC) Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Act of 2016 “declares the policy of the State to promote and upgrade the practice of professions in the country.” By sanctioning professionals to be involved in competence and qualifications development programs such as seminars in order to renew their licenses every three years. The expected end result is for them to grow vertically in their respective professions.
To prevent the stagnation of licensed professionals and their work, having them attend seminars, enroll in post baccalaureate studies, or increase their productivity through publications and researches are needed. This also ensures the continuous growth and advancement of their very own fields.
Even before the implementation of requiring CPD units, professionals, especially those who work in the government, already have the incentive to earn as many certificates as they can in hopes of increasing their ranks come promotion period.
Through the required units, they can provide better service, and hopefully, contribute to their professional growth. I, personally, see the long-term benefits of these. For many of my colleagues in teaching, this is an incentive for them to be updated on the latest teaching trends.
However, some of my licensed friends still have complaints about the implemented guidelines.
It’s good that the seminars of most public school teachers are paid by their schools. Their yearly In-Service Training (INSET) has also recently been allowed credit as CDP units – but most employees from other fields or companies do not have this kind of privilege.
Attending seminars is costly in itself. Most national seminars that I had attended cost about a minimum of P2,500. If it is in another city, the participant also has to pay for fare, lodging, and meals. As an employee who seeks to have their licenses renewed, one has to pay for these expenses themselves. If you’re a fresh graduate, your starting salary might be still too little to pay for costly registration fees.
Even if companies themselves benefit from the updated skills or knowledge of their employee as well as in keeping a reputation that their employees have active licenses, some still wouldn’t sponsor even at least half of the expenses the employee needs to pay for an enrichment seminar.
Some companies also do not allow their employees to file a leave just for seminars that they do not endorse. Therefore, precious working hours are also at stake. More subsidized seminars by either the company or PRC would have been a really be a big help to our professionals.
Most seminars also only count as 3 CDP units. After that seminar, he still have to finish 117 more units. Accountants have the highest requirement for CPD units.
Aside from seminars, there are also alternatives such as being a resource speaker, panelist, facilitator, or reactor in in a program or activity; socio-civil missions, academic studies or fellowships, publishing or participating in research projects. However, some companies do not sponsor costs for research or publishing. Aside from free publications, most local university research journals charge about P3,000; national research journals, about P5,000, and international journals, the cheapest one I’ve seen so far, is P6,500.
A friend of mine, a Certified Public Accountant, posted in Facebook, that in his workplace, there aren’t much seminars for CPAs. He now has to sacrifice his weekends – supposed time for rest and family – to attend a seminar far away just to meet the demands of the requirements to renew his license.
In the previous column I had last month, “The Mantra We Burdened Them With,” I’ve shared that teachers are already heavily yoked with much work from lesson planning, classroom management, Parent-Teacher Assemblies, and child counselling. Now, another burden is added in their list: to force them to partake in professional development activities, which further takes more of their free time – and resources – from them.
There’s also the issue that an institution or organization still has to apply as a CPD provider in order for their seminar to count as CPD units. This would have been good as a deterrent for those fake their certificates. However, plenty of issues still shroud this rule, including an issue where even though a college or university is Commission on Higher Education (CHED) accredited, they still have to apply as a CPD provider accredited by the CPD Council for their programs and activities to be counted as CPD units. It is redundant by nature.
They will still credit your seminar participation even if the seminar is not an accredited CPD provider. However, the number of points it will credit will be evaluated by the CPD Council.
Employees need work, rest, and growth. Professional growth is indeed a clear goal of the implementation of the CPD units system. However, there is a need to lessen the burden – and redundancy – we put in our professionals. Else, their two other needs, work and rest, will also be at stake. The entire goal to make them grow will then eventually collapse.
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