553,706 college students to graduate

MANILA, Philippines - Over half a million graduates will be added to the labor force this year, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) reported yesterday.

Data from CHED show that 553,706 college students will graduate this school year.

Topping the list are graduates of Business Administration and related courses (142,061), followed by Medical and Allied disciplines (110,280), Information Technology (68,178), Education and Teacher Training (65,092), Engineering and Technology (61,786) and other disciplines (26,298).

A total of 18,725 are graduates of Maritime followed by Social and Behavioral Science (13,144); Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries and Veterinary Medicine (9,109); Service Trades (8,283); Mass Communication and Documentation (6,153); Humanities (5,362); Natural Science (4,171); and Law and Jurisprudence (2,870).

Graduates of Architectural and Town Planning number 2,268 followed by Mathematics majors (2,094), general courses (1,863), Religion and Theology (1,280) and Trade, Craft and Industrial (403).

‘Entrepreneurship solution to joblessness’

Following reports on joblessness, Sen. Paolo Benigno Aquino IV said yesterday that youth entrepreneurship is the key to addressing unemployment for the 15- to 24-year-old segment, the number of whom continues to rise annually.

The Senate is in the process of studying several bills on youth entrepreneurship to help address the problem of unemployed youth.

But “with the slow pace of the country’s legislative mill, it will take months or years before these measures are enacted into law. That’s why the government needs to take the initiative and start these programs right away,” Aquino said.

Aquino believes that the government’s push for inclusive growth will not take off unless the problems of youth unemployment and underemployment are immediately addressed.– With Marvin Sy