The Department of Education receives this year

2014 the lions share of the national budget, with PHP

336.9 billion (over US $7.7 billion) or nearly 15% of
the total, which is 14% more than the amount
allocated in 2013. Most of this new funding will work
to stimulate and develop the K-12 sector.
Higher education adjustments
Higher education institutions (HEIs) and the
Philippines government are doing what they can
to create solutions to the unemployment
problem. Two examples include:
reforms transforming agri-colleges into state
universities to provide more opportunities to
disadvantaged students;
quality control by the Commission on Higher
Education (CHED) shutting down programmes that
arent up to standard.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is
doing its part by launching a My First Job
facilitation programme which will provide skills
training to the tune of US $5.6 million. Funding for
the programme was provided by the Asian
Development Bank (ADB) and the Canadian
International Development Agency (CIDA) in the
hopes that it helps Filipino youth find jobs at much
faster rate and encourages more foreign investors to
put up business in the country.
Higher education institutes are responding too.
Some are offering programmes which they believe
will give students the skills they need to find work.
Business World Online reported that of the nearly
2,300 highered institutes in the Philippines, 1,259 of
them were offering business degrees in 2012.
A higher education summit took place in early 2013
between business executives and university
administrators, and the outcome was a list of
recommendations for HEIs, one of which was the
identification of competencies that will be expected
from graduates of higher education institutions in
four courses: business management, information
technology, electronics engineering, tourism and
hotel/restaurant management.
These four subjects were chosen because they are the
academic areas producing the workforce for
industries important to the economys continued
growth Their improved relevance to industry,
resulting from their redesign, would only mean
greater employability for their graduates and a
stronger workforce for associated industries.
Education authorities in the Philippines are also
embracing technology.
In June the Manila Bulletin reported that the
University of the Philippines system has joined forces
with Google to provide Google Apps for Education
on campuses across the country. This means that over
70,000 students, faculty, staff and alumni of the
University of the Philippines will have access to
email, more memory and a file sharing space.

Google Apps for Education is popular there; the
universities are not the only ones using it: The
Commission of Higher Education (CHED) and the
Department of Education (DepEd) have already
adopted the system last year, and the Technical
Education and Skills Development Authority
(TESDA) adopted it earlier this year, effectively
making the entire education department of the
Philippines users of the Google suite of apps.
The University of the Philippines also recently made tech
headlines when the Open University, an autonomous unit
within UP, partnered with The Australian Agency for
International Development (AusAID) to study of
effective use of tablet computers for public school
students. Students in nine schools around the capital
have been given 1,000 tablets to use in their classrooms,
and the aim of the study, which is being funded in the
region of PHP 24 million (nearly US $500,000), is to
understand how digital devices can complement
traditional ways of pedagogy and learning.
Vocational education reacts
In response to the youth unemployment rate and the
desire for students to learn employable skills, the
TESDA has been actively promoting its schools and
learning centres as the more practical option to high
school students. TESDA Director General Joel
Villanueva said: I know the idea of a college or
university education is always appealing. But TVET
is more affordable, hands-on, and the path to a good
job is shorter.

TESDA supports a number of TVET centres across
the Philippines, all of which train students in
vocations that are vital to the countrys growing
economy. For example:
The Auto Mechanic Training Center in Tacloban,
Leyte is funded by Isuzu Motors Limited of Japan
and has seen 117 graduates since the centre opened in
2008, most of whom are now working for Isuzu
Philippines.
Carpentry training courses are proving popular:
Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz recently
announced that a study showed that the high demand
for carpenters is expected to continue in the next five
to ten years.

A similar but different response to TESDA training
centres is the boutique college. A private hospitality
management school called Enderun Colleges is
growing in popularity and expanding the number of
courses it offers. President Javier Infante explained,
Just like big hotels and boutique hotels, we are a
boutique management school. Its smaller, its new
and a different approach. Enderun has partnered
with a number of schools and colleges in Europe, the
US and other parts of Asia to send its students on a
semester abroad.
TVET goes international
A number of countries have partnered with
TESDA either to receive its expertise or to train
its experts. Projects like those listed below are
there for the taking for any overseas providers
wishing to develop their international influence in
technical and vocational education.
In July 2012, Bangladesh sent 22 vocational
education teachers and supervisors to the
Philippines to study the technical education and
training system. This was the third such group,
the first two having visited in 2010 and 2011.

Two teams of officials from various Indian and
Bangladesh ministries spent time studying TVET
best practices in January of last year, hoping to take
away ideas with them to adopt in their own
countries. Secretary Joel Villanueva, Director
General TESDA said, We hope we can be a good
role model to countries in pursuing the TVET
track.
TESDA schools and centres are creating
graduates with employable skills which will
contribute to the thriving economy. As
Director General Villanueva has said,
TVET could just offer the best chance at a solid
career to graduates, and the savior against the
rising unemployment.


Education in the Philippines, from primary to secondary
to tertiary and beyond, is evolving and responding as
the country develops and grows. The nations
government wants education at all levels to provide its
citizens with knowledge and skills to keep it
progressing long into the next century.