Standing extreme left: Dr. Virgel C. Binghay, Dr. Virginia Teodosio.
Sitting from left to right: Ambassador Donald Dee, Ms. Susan Vidal,
Atty. Joel Petaca, Dir. Agnes Padilla, & Mr. Celestino Millar. Standing in
the middle: Dean Jorge Sibal. The rest are the symposium organizers
and some participants.
(SOLAIR)--Seeking to generate long-term policy support for an integrated framework of employment matching that will promote the employability of labor force, the School of Labor and Industrial Relations held the symposium “Addressing the Academe-Industry Mismatch in the Philippines” Feb. 24.
The event likewise sought out strategies to bridge the academe-industry gap primarily through identification of the needed core competencies among graduates, both from the formal and technical-vocational educational sectors, as a match to the current and projected proficiency requirements of jobs within the country and in the global scene.
The speakers were Ambassador Donald G. Dee, Vice-Chair and Treasurer of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI); Susan R. Vidal, Vice-Chair for Academe-Industry Committee of the People Management Association of the Philippines (PMAP); Agnes Padilla, Director for Human Resource Development of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) Central Office; Celestino Millar, Officer-In-Charge for Policy Research and Evaluation of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA); and Atty. Joel P. Petaca, Med-Arbiter from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
The event was a worthwhile exchange of learning as the assembly of subject-matter experts from different sectors shared their respective programs and plans of action with insights from both the public and private sectors coming into interplay.
From TESDA, Millar presented the agency’s programs in addressing the skills gap as evidenced by numerous available jobs that remain unfilled due to skill requirements. Emphasis was made on the competency assessment approach currently employed by TESDA to evaluate the quality of its graduates as well as map out developmental strategies for highly specialized training of the country’s middle manpower.
Specifically dealing with employment in the public sector, Padilla discussed the CSC programs addressing competency gaps in the bureaucracy and highlighted the values formation aspect which is a neglected part of manpower development. She wrapped up with a presentation of the Commission’s transformational approach of shifting its role “from regulation to assistorial” allowing for government operations to be perceived “on a more developmental plane to dispense with the age-old norm of over-regulation.”
Petaca expounded on an array of statistical information that shed light on the more concrete aspects of the mismatch – key employment generators and hard-to-fill occupations versus reasons why these jobs remain unfilled with “lack of competencies” topping the chart. He likewise brought the listeners up to date with the various programs that DOLE is undertaking in response to this disparity – updating a skills registry system, capacity building of DOLE’s PESO services as well as provision of timely and relevant labor market information, among others.
Representing the private sector, Vidal discussed the results of PMAP’s Survey on “Addressing Gaps in Behavioral Competencies of College Graduates.” Conducted among 33 companies, the study pinpointed three behavioral competencies that need to be urgently addressed – communication skills, problem solving and analytical skills, and initiative. She also shared the initiative of BPAP, CCAP, and the Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations in focusing on developing near-hire and hiring-level competencies in English, enabling graduates to be immediately employed across industries but especially by the BPO-IT industry.
Ambassador Dee expressed the PCCI’s advocacy in making the economy more resilient and globally competitive. Its support for employment includes the key thrust on education, which has been the center of its agenda for economic reform and competitiveness. With a firm belief in partnering with the government in crafting a cohesive policy agenda to reform the education system in the Philippines, PCCI has identified the key activities in addressing mismatch of industry demand and supply of graduates as: partnerships between higher education institutions and industry associations or individual companies to support people development and training programs; joint academe-industry review of courses and curriculum; develop a bridging program for the inclusion of specialized skills in the curriculum of course to meet industry standards and qualifications criteria and; preparation of competitive landscape studies and roadmaps for some industries.
Culminating the activity was an insightful integration of the various topics by Dr. Virgel C. Binghay, UP SOLAIR Associate Professor and director of the Center for Industry Productivity and Competitiveness. He said that with both government and private sector on top of promoting employment generation, it is important that issues related to mismatch and attendant policies to address such situation be discussed and be understood so that a common and coherent framework be developed to increase employment particularly in critical sectors of the society. Strategic interventions should be formulated by government agencies and industries to address employment mismatch.