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Feature
Beyond Access: Prospects for Relevant and Responsive Education in the Philippines
In the Philippines, children who are able to finish
at least high school can be considered luckier than
the rest of the youth population who either fail
to complete secondary or elementary school or has
never attended any schooling at all. In most likelihood,
they would have better chances of getting employed
than those who do not possess the minimum requirement
in most jobs available, which is a high school diploma.
The country's slow-moving economy, however, is beginning
to prove that high school or even college graduates
are not that luckier. There is an even slimmer chance
of getting employed nowadays since the economy simply
cannot absorb the graduates. On top of this, the
education system seems to be as confused as the economy
as to what kind of education should they give the
children to prepare them for employment. Even in
the presence of opportunities, graduates remain unemployed
because they either fall short of the employability
skills they are supposed to have acquired in school
or their education proves irrelevant when applied
to the context of employment in their community.
Such is one of the major problems facing the Philippine
education system today. Luckily for the Filipinos,
prospects for sound reforms and viable interventions
remain brought amidst the somber reality. The country
can pin its hope on Project APEX.
Apex in Brief. Aptly called
Project Applied Academics for Excellence, APEX is
an innovative approach to secondary education being
pioneered by SEAMEO INNOTECH in the Philippines.
It prepares students for advanced standing in college
and for highly in-demand careers. The strength of
Project APEX lies in its recognition that education
must respond to the needs of the community which,
in the case of the Philippines, are intellectual
growth and prospects for employment. APEX forges
collaborations within a community and offers many
benefits to students, employers, educators, and parents
alike. Working together to provide increased learning
opportunities for all students, the community enhances
the employability and entrepreneurial spirit of the
youth and consequently stimulates economic growth
in the area.
Apex in Practice. The
common complaint among graduates every year is that
there is not job available to them. The truth of
the matter, however, is aside from the scarcity of
jobs in the country. employers find many, if not
most, of the graduates ill-prepared for the workplace.
Employers raise the issue of minimum levels of competencies
and good communication skills, which they usually
find absent in most of the graduates. This is when
APEX seeks to intervene.
As early as first year high school, APEX students
are already exposed to academic, technical and employability
skills necessary for a successful work life. APEX
believes that every student can learn the skills
required for success in a competitive world. The
Project provides students career basics. It also
trains them on the more critical employability and
entrepreneurial skills such as work ethics, risk
taking, teaming, problem solving and being effective
in a work setting.
In connection to this, APEX also seeks to redefine
what academic excellence means by veering away from
the practice of making the students competent in
subjects and concepts which do not necessarily translate
to better performance in the workplace. The teaching
of academic subjects, such as science and mathematics
are designed to relate to technical and employability
competencies to make learning more enjoyable, challenging
and relevant. In the province of Laguna, for instance,
Math and Science subjects are taught in a way that
would be useful for the students if they decide to
join the bustling electronics and semiconductor industry
in of the many economic zones in the province. Technical
skills education are integrated in the lessons of
the students.
With the Philippines lacking the basic industries
that could ensure a steady supply of employment for
its people, it is worth mentioning that APEX pressed
another right button by inculcating the entrepreneurial
character in the students through the curriculum.
This, says an expert from the Philippines' Technical
Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA),
would not only influence the thinking of the students
about white-collar and blue-collar jobs, but also
prepare them to become self-employed if wage employment
cannot accommodate them in the future. In the province
of Cebu, said to be the fastest growing economy in
the country, students in some APEX schools are being
taught entrepreneurial and business skills which
they can very much take advantage of given the good
business climate there.
Economic Context. The
problem of unemployment and its many consequences
in the Philippines is, of course, anything but simple.
One has to understand that besides being educational
and cultural, the problem is highly an economic one.
The creation of a sustainable economic system, which
would provide employment for the youth and from which
a responsive education system can take its cue as
to where it should go in the long run, remains an
imperative for the government. Project APEX, however,
can buy the government a lot of time to make the
necessary economic reforms before the problem gets
out of hand. Statistics on poverty, education and
employment are already short of saying that the country
is ripe for a major social upheaval. At the very
least, Project APEX offers better prospects of cutting
short the unemployment lines and giving the students
a crack at a better life after school until all youth
finally get both the best education and economic
system they rightfully deserve. Meanwhile, the project
early on arms the students with the skills they would
need before they start their journey to a successful
working life.
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