Trade and Industry Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual is urging local companies to employ more high school graduates under the K-12 program, saying that employers should review their hiring policies that widely favor college graduates.
The current K-12 education system provides enough training for its graduates to become fully-functioning employees, Pascual said in an interview on DZMM radio late Wednesday night.
“When the K-12 was created, its purpose was to produce (holistically-developed Filipinos). Meaning, if you are a K-12 graduate, assuming it was implemented well, you are okay, you are ready for a job,” the trade secretary said in Pilipino.
Pascual said the mindset of many people, including employers, that non-college graduates were not prepared for the working world was wrong.
“The mindset today is that you are not well-formed in preparing for a livelihood or in your life if you do not have a college degree, which is totally an erroneous mindset,” he said as he called on employers to review their hiring requirements as many job descriptions list college education as a requirement.
In response, the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) said they would review the call of the trade secretary, but explained that there were more factors at play when hiring people and determining someone’s employability.
“The problem is that in a situation where there are a limited number of jobs, those who are college graduates have an advantage. That’s the reality,” ECOP President Sergio Ortiz-Luis told the Inquirer.
“Also, if you will pay them the same level of salary, then why choose someone who is not a college graduate ?” the ECOP official asked.
Ortiz-Luis said the secretary’s call was understandable, but in the end, the determination of who to hire rests solely with the individual companies.
The K to 12 education system was first introduced in 2013, under Republic Act No. 10533 or the “Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013.”
Before its implementation, the Philippines was the sole country in Asia and one of the three others (Angola and Djibouti) in the world that had a 10-year basic education program.
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