MANILA – Congress will coordinate with the Department of Education (DepEd) to come out with programs and strategies to enhance the capabilities of the Senior High School (SHS) graduates to find employment even before or without going to college.
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Monday said as co-chairperson of the Second Congressional Commission on Education, they must undertake a comprehensive assessment and evaluation of the Philippine education sector’s performance.
“The national assessment will recommend transformative, concrete, and targeted reforms to make the Philippines globally competitive in both education and labor market,” he said in a news release.
Gatchalian, also the chair of the Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture, filed Senate Proposed Resolution No. 5 in July, seeking an inquiry on the status of the implementation of RA 10533, or the K to 12 law Enhanced Basic Education Act, to boost the employability of SHS graduates.
Recently, Vice President and DepEd Secretary Sara Duterte urged the hiring of more K to 12 graduates, an appeal also made by Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual.
Based on a 2020 discussion paper by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, just over 20 percent of SHS graduates join the labor force while more than 70 percent continue with their education.
It also pointed out that Grade 12 completers do not show better labor outcomes compared to Grade 10 completers.
Similarly, those who finished at least two years in college do not show superior labor market outcomes compared to SHS graduates.
“Sa gagawin nating pag-aaral ng K to 12, tututukan natin kung paano natin matutupad ang pangakong trabaho para sa mga graduate ng senior high school. Kailangang maramdaman ng ating mga magulang na hindi lamang dagdag gastos, kundi may totoong benepisyo ang dagdag na dalawang taon sa high school (Based on the K to 12 review, we will focus on how to give employment to SHS graduates. We must show to their parents that the K-12 Law doesn’t mean just spending more money),” Gatchalian said.
RA 105433, signed in 2013 during the Benigno Aquino III administration, mandates the State to “establish, maintain and support a complete, adequate, and integrated system of education relevant to the needs of the people, the country and society-at-large.”
Every graduate of basic education shall be an empowered individual who has learned, through a program that is rooted on sound educational principles and geared towards excellence, the foundations for learning throughout life, the competence to engage in work and be productive, the ability to coexist in fruitful harmony with local and global communities, the capability to engage in autonomous, creative, and critical thinking, and the capacity and willingness to transform others and one’s self, the law states.
