MANILA, Philippines—While the Philippines has a treasure trove of manpower for business process outsourcing (BPO) firms, the government still has to beef up its education system and help local talents get certifications in various fields to ensure continuous inflow of BPO investments.

Jeffrey Puritt, president of Canadian BPO firm Telus International, said the industry was evolving in such a way that companies were now seeking to outsource and offshore more complex and high-value functions.

“The Philippines has a nascent capability to meet these types of requirements, but I’m not sure if there are enough IT-trained and IT-certified individuals now who can meet the demand,” he said. “The government should really focus on education. It should also help [would-be BPO practitioners] get IT certifications.”

The Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) more than a week ago received the first tranche of the P350-million fund for the Pangulong Gloria Scholarship Program, which aimed to equip 60,000 individuals with the right skills to work in the BPO industry.

Other programs and activities that BPAP and its private and public sector partners would be conducting this year include more English-proficiency training, BPO investment missions and conferences, a standard assessment test for the BPO industry and leadership training for middle managers.

In an earlier interview, BPAP chief executive Oscar Sañez said a standardized test for hopeful BPO practitioners, dubbed the National Competency Assessment Tool, would initially be rolled out in 10 universities this year. This would measure the aptitude of college students to enter the sector.

For those already holding higher positions in the BPO sector, he said the Training for Outsourcing and Offshoring Leadership (TOOL) program would continue to train leaders to become better managers.