CHED and PBEd address jobs mismatch

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) is now closely working with the business sector in reforming the curricula of four major courses to help address jobs mismatch.

CHED chairperson Patricia Licuanan said the Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) is set to release the results of its parallel reviews of the Policies, Standards and Guidelines (PSGs) for Business Administration, Information Technology, Hotel and Restaurant Management and Electronics Engineering by September this year.

“There are a lot of jobs available and there are a lot of graduates, but they are not matched. So the sooner you improve the match the better for everybody,” PBEd chairman Ramon del Rosario told reporters.

The parallel review is part of the Higher Education and Productivity Project (HEPP) of PBEd and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Del Rosario said the four courses were chosen as these comprise 50 percent of the total enrollment in college.

“Just looking at these four courses you are taking care of 50 percent of the enrolment in our schools,” Del Rosario said.

He said the industry associations themselves must help the academe in identifying the type of skills they are looking for.

“The whole idea is that all the courses offered in schools lead to graduates who have the competencies that are required by the industries or the jobs that are available,” he said.

Licuanan said the PSGs are the minimum requirements required of a higher education institution before it can offer an academic program.

She said they are looking at implementing the revised curricula for the said courses by 2016.

“It (PBEd review) will have a bigger impact if that becomes part of the curriculum… and essentially that’s what happened in business analytics, we added those courses in the curriculum because they saw that as needs of the industry. They will do that in these four areas,” Licuanan said.

CHED and IBM-Philippines have worked on the development of business analytics course which is now being offered in 12 private and public universities starting this school year.

However, Licuanan said any amendments in the curricula must undergo proper consultation with major stakeholders including students and administrators of HEIs.

Licuanan said the review will ensure that PSGs are aligned with the needs of the industry.

“The timing is perfect because CHED is in the process of reviewing the PSGs which is really the definition of the competencies and outcomes that they are looking for the kids to go to these courses. This is a time for us to jump in and make sure we’re actively participating,” Del Rosario said.

“Actually there are slots available for them even now and I think the level of participation is not that good as it should be so the level of industry participation should really be improved,” he said.

Licuanan said there are over 500,000 college graduates every year and only 40 percent will land a job a year after graduation.