Employable

Our K-12 educational system is being blamed by a senator for failing to make our young people employable after senior high school. Employability was K-12’s promise when it was adopted a decade ago.

Blaming K-12 for the failure is wrong. Blame the legislators and education experts for including so many useless subjects that take time away from the basic skills that must be learned to prepare our youth for real job markets.

PIDS studies say the SHS curriculum is “congested” and misaligned with what the labor market needs. DepEd itself agrees SHS needs more time for practical immersion.

The problem goes beyond SHS. Employers also complain about college graduates who do not have the skills necessary for their entry level jobs.

National tracer studies (SY?2017–2018 SHS grads) show 82.7 percent went on to higher education, while only 10.2 percent were employed straight after SHS. Among those employed, those who chose the technical vocational track had a slightly higher rate (9.7 percent) than those who chose the academic or college prep track (6.2 percent) in securing entry?level work.

The cultural bias against technical and vocational training is also quite strong.

Not the case in Germany with its dual system which bridges education and employment in a very direct, effective way. It produces job-ready graduates with both the theoretical knowledge and practical experience industries need.

The so-called dual tech system ensures businesses can deploy skilled labor immediately. Its success is due to strong industry alignment.

Apprentices split their time between vocational schools and on-the-job training at a company (usually three to four days work plus one to two days school per week). This gives them both strong theoretical foundations and workplace hands-on skills.

Training content and certifications are co-designed by employers, trade unions and the state. This ensures alignment with current technologies, including digital and AI trends.

Companies in the program can vet and train future employees, reducing hiring risks and recruitment costs. About 70 to 75 percent of apprentices stay on with their training company after graduation.

In our case, SHS and college graduates have dim job prospects due to this disconnect between the education system and labor market requirements.

Worst of all, our country’s three major education bodies –DepEd, CHED and TESDA – hardly coordinate their programs and with little coordination with industry.

The private sector has also complained about TESDA’s severe assessor shortage, which has created a backlog of students unable to receive certifications.

The Philippine Business for Education or PBEd has launched YouthWorks PH, a private sector approach to introduce work-based training, certification and industry alignment. The aim is to turn SHS into a springboard to employment by deepening employer network involvement.

The program offers technical training, soft skills development and paid apprenticeships.

Among 294 SHS grads who joined the program, 222 (76 percent) secured employment – mainly in construction, F&B services and food processing.

YouthWorks is partially funded by the USAID and has lost that funding, thanks to Trump.

But Ramon del Rosario, Jr. who heads PBEd told me he is confident the local private sector will step up and keep the program alive.

Another private sector initiative is Unilab Education (UniEd), the education arm of the Filipino drug company.

Over dinner with Jose Maria Ochave, president of UniEd, he explained to me their mission is to enable social mobility through quality education. It is their vision to ensure that graduates are not only equipped with academic knowledge but also possess the skills necessary to thrive in a rapidly evolving job market.

He explained the principles of Unilab Education – “First, we focus on employment. Graduates of our partner educational institutions should have relevant jobs and be able to pursue rewarding careers.

“Second, we partner instead of compete with existing universities, colleges and trade schools. Private higher educational institutions and trade schools need help from industry.”

In their most recent project, they partnered with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)-based RAISE (Responsible AI for Social Empowerment and Education) to help educators, students and industry leaders understand the benefits and risks associated with the use of AI.

They have organized a series of seminars with partner colleges and universities where MIT professors explain how they can utilize AI efficiently and responsibly to teach better and learners learn faster.

A similar session was also held with officials of the Department of Education and campus directors of Philippine Science High School System as they explore the potential integration of responsible use of AI into their curriculum.

MIT’s RAISE Initiative is working to ensure that students across all disciplines – not just those in STEM – are prepared for an AI-driven future. The Day of AI, an MIT-developed curriculum, has already reached thousands of students globally, teaching them about AI applications, ethics and creative problem-solving.

Now, Ochave explains, the objective is to make AI education hands-on, practical and widely accessible. MIT aims to localize AI training for the Philippine context, ensuring that graduates are not only knowledgeable but also capable of applying AI in real-world scenarios.

Ochave’s approach addresses a most pressing concern these days: the impact of AI on employment.

There was a recent New York Times Op-Ed piece about a “white-collar blood bath,” a scenario in the near future in which many college-educated workers are replaced by artificial intelligence programs that do their jobs faster and better.

However, NYT quoted Jensen Huang, the chief executive of the computer chip maker Nvidia, saying that “you’re not going to lose your job to A.I., but you’re going to lose your job to someone who uses A.I.”

That’s also the point Ochave makes: the real challenge is preparing the workforce for new jobs that AI will create.

It will take time before our educational system can catch up to world standards. Hopefully with Sec. Sonny Angara working together and with PBEd and UniEd pitching in, our young people will be more job-ready soon.

Boo Chanco’s email address is [email protected]. Follow him on X @boochanco