THE Philippines should develop the quality of its human capital given the big population the country currently has, said a Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) official.
In his presentation during the Davao Region Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise (MSME) Conference held last Thursday, July 27, at Marco Polo Hotel, DTI Bureau of Small and Medium Enterprise Development Director Jerry Clavesillas said the Philippines has an edge in terms of human capital compared to other Asian countries with the population mostly made up of people from the old generation such as Japan.
But Clavesillas also said the Philippines should be able to level up the human resources that it currently has not just banking on the fact that the country has a young population but to equip them to be productive.
“We have a high population of people from the young generation. That’s our advantage that we need to capitalize on also. What support do we need to provide? We have to equip and level up the quality of our human capital. The kind of population we want to see are those who have the entrepreneurial spirit, with businesses, and does productive undertaking,” he said.
Clavesillas said that it is important that the entrepreneurial values and skills be integrated in the educational curriculum in all levels.
“We must produce entrepreneurs and not just graduates. When we talk of graduates, they are not supposed to only be employed. We’re trying to look at a new twist in our strategy as our Philippine economy is already changing. We are already having problems with our foreign workers so we’re trying to help these workers, what are the options for them? Entrepreneurship development is another track that they can pursue,” said Clavesillas.
He added it would still be a failure if the children had finished school and are still unemployed or are still financially dependent on their parents.
“This generation must be an enabling generation. We must not tolerate those who are not productive. We must master our own craft at the same time we should have someone that we are mentoring,” Clavesillas said.