INNOTECH Turns Over Career Development for Children Toolkit to DepEd

September 29, 2026

QUEZON CITY, Philippines — SEAMEO INNOTECH formally turned over the Career Development for Children (CD4C) Toolkit for Key Stage 1 to the Philippine Department of Education (DepEd) on 29 September 2026 at the Centre’s L.B. Soriano Hall, marking a major step toward bringing structured and age-appropriate career development closer to Filipino learners in Kindergarten to Grade 3.

Developed by SEAMEO INNOTECH with DepEd, the four-volume toolkit responds to a gap identified through research with 4,007 guidance implementers from elementary schools across all 17 regions of the Philippines and a national focus group discussion. The study pointed to the need for early career development alongside challenges such as limited resources, shortages of qualified guidance counselors, and the need for structured, developmentally appropriate materials.

Rather than asking young children to choose a profession, CD4C helps them begin with something more fundamental: understanding themselves, recognizing their interests and strengths, appreciating different roles and occupations, and imagining what their futures could hold. The toolkit translates these goals into career-related class lessons, school-wide activities, manipulatives, and implementation guides designed for use from Kindergarten to Grade 3. Its resources were validated with teachers, guidance implementers, DepEd representatives, and experts, and pilot-tested in two school settings before finalization.

For teachers and guidance implementers, the toolkit is designed to work with, rather than add another layer to, existing school programs. Its career-related lessons were developed with DepEd’s existing Homeroom Guidance Program in mind, providing educators with additional resources they can adapt and localize for their learners. The toolkit also includes ready-to-use materials, process questions, activity extensions, and other teaching supports intended to make career learning practical even for educators who are not career guidance specialists.

The ceremonial turnover brought together the institutions and individuals involved in taking CD4C from research to classroom use. SEAMEO INNOTECH Centre Director Dr. Majah-Leah V. Ravago opened the program and traced the project’s evidence-based development and pilot testing. The ceremony also recognized the CD4C Technical Working Group and pilot schools, while Dr. Joseph Ryan G. Lansangan, Manager of INNOTECH’s Educational Research and Innovation Office (ETIRO), closed the program by acknowledging the DepEd partners, pilot schools, consultants, lead writers, and project team that contributed to the initiative.

During the walkthrough of the four volumes, CD4C consultants Dr. Leonor E. Diaz and Mary Grace D. Espinosa, RGC, showed how career development can be introduced without narrowing children’s choices too early. As they explained, “We aren’t asking a six-year-old to choose a job for life. Instead, we use the classroom to intentionally cultivate self-awareness, transferable skills, a deep appreciation for community roles.” The toolkit puts this principle into practice through play-based and experiential activities that become progressively more complex across the early grades.

Delivering the keynote message on behalf of DepEd Undersecretary for Operations Dr. Malcolm S. Garma, Atty. Razzel Anne T. Requesto, Director IV of the Bureau of Learner Support System, placed the toolkit within DepEd’s broader responsibility to help children recognize their potential early. “At this stage, the goal is not to ask children to decide what career they will pursue. Rather, it is to give them opportunities to explore, ask questions, develop their interests and understand their own strengths and potential,” she said. DepEd formally received the toolkit as a resource that can further strengthen learner support programs and enhance the educational experiences of young learners.

The turnover also included the release of the CD4C feature under SEAMEO INNOTECH’s Innovation and Technology (I&T) Series, extending access to the project’s ideas, experiences, and lessons beyond the ceremony. For INNOTECH and DepEd, the turnover moves CD4C closer to its intended setting: schools and classrooms where teachers and guidance implementers can help children discover what they can do, see possibilities beyond what they already know, and begin building the skills to navigate those possibilities as they grow.

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