Marcos orders skills training integration into K-12 curriculum

MANILA, Philippines — To increase the employability of senior high school (SHS) graduates, President Marcos has ordered the integration of skills training into the K-12 curriculum.

Marcos gave the directive during a meeting with the education sector, led by Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte, at Malacañang yesterday.

The President reiterated his order to the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), Department of Education (DepEd) and Department of Labor and Employment to work closely with industries so that skills and education are aligned with the demand of companies.

At a Palace press briefing, TESDA director general Suharto Mangudadatu stressed that the proposal would not change the K-12 curriculum, but would strengthen the program by adding a practicum component.

Mangudadatu noted the technical-vocational-livelihood or TVL was separated from the academic track under the K-12 program.

“We should provide additional skills for both the academic and TVL track programs. Not because they are in remote areas, they should automatically take the TVL track,” he said.

He added that this would not be an additional task for teachers as schools would decide on the training or skills that would be added in the subjects based on the available resources in particular areas.

“For instance, the school offers ABM (accountancy, business and management) strands, the teacher – who underwent training from TESDA – will allocate the practicum side, which is bookkeeping,” Mangudadatu explained.

“If you are in far-flung areas in the countryside … you can’t teach megatronic programs there because there’s no electricity, but you can teach bookkeeping because you have ballpen, calculator and ledger, so it depends,” he added.

Marcos ordered the creation of a technical working group that will study the proposed embedding of skills development into the DepEd curriculum, according to TESDA deputy director general Rossana Urdaneta.

Urdaneta, who was also at the Palace briefing, cited a study by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, which showed that only 20 percent of the country’s SHS graduates have landed employment.

Under the proposal,