MANILA - There are more weaknesses in the senior high school program in the Philippines, a Senate panel noted Tuesday, as enrollees in the country continue to increase.

During Tuesday's Senate basic education committee hearing, the Department of Education boasted of its 97.8 percent National Certification Test, with 10 percent of students immediately getting a job after graduation.

A big chunk of these students finished the Technical-Vocational-Livelihood track, according to DepEd's information system analyst Ariel Tandingan.

“Mataas po yung percentage of passing, who took and passed the National Certification Test ng TESDA," Tandingan said.

But such a passing rate, according to Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, only represents 127,000 SHS students who took the test. TVL graduates he said, reached 486,000.

“Our passing rate is high 66% participation rate. That means those who took the examination eh pumapasa sila which is good. The problem is they are not taking the examination," said Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate education panel.

"If I’m a TVL graduate, it’s a dead end for me. You teach me for two years, but if I don’t take the national examination, I cannot choose to look for a job because they will look for my certification," he added.

The DepEd admitted that many students refuse to take the National Certification Test because of the exam fee that runs from P200 to P1,000.

This prompted Gatchalian to direct the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) to shoulder the students' exam fee through its P16 billion scholarship fund.

The DepEd agreed but left a recommendation to make the test compulsory.

Its 2022 to 2023 data logged SHS enrollees at 4,179,644, which is higher compared to SY 2020-2021's 3,824,713 enrollees.

The bulk of this school year's SHS enrollees—2.7 million at least—are in public schools, while 1.4 million are in private schools and 50,383 are in state and local universities and colleges.

The majority are taking the academic strand, followed by those in the TVL track.

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SHS GRADUATES’ COMPETITIVENESS

Gatchalian zeroed in on the quality of jobs that SHS products bag after two years of additional education, saying most work in jobs that pay little.

“Those who are employed, are employed only in very low-paying and low-skilled jobs. This is based on the Labor Force Survey. Of those senior high schools that were employed, the majority (or) 50 percent are in elementary occupations. Meaning, these are occupations that you don’t need senior high education. These are very simple jobs. Examples (are) clerks, utility, and car wash,” Gatchalian said.

The senator is eyeing to recommend the review of the DepEd’s “Bridging Program” which requires students to take a certain subject that they lack for their target SHS strand.

It costs at least P3,000 and requires five-month schooling.

For an employers’ organization and the Department of Labor and Employment, SHS graduates have slim chances of getting a job with competitive salaries and benefits, in companies, a labor official and expert said.

“Employers have a little knowledge about senior high school program. Employers see SHS graduates as not as mature and competent as college graduates. And not enough skills for work. They can be hired for rank and file and blue-collar positions,” said Jerome Lucas, supervising labor and employment Officer at the Bureau of Local Employment.

“Unless of course a senior high school would show me a certificate, let’s say if the job description concerns agriculture, and the senior high school has a certificate concerning agriculture, I would hire the senior high school,” said Robert Maronilla, legal service manager of the Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines.

“The point of view of the employer, if we’ll look at it in an equal sense, we would choose the college student rather than the senior high school. 'Yun lang po, except kung may certification siya,” Maronilla added.

Gatchalian committed to include in his would-be penned panel chairman’s report, a recommendation to mandate TESDA, CHED and DepEd to directly meet and ask for various industries’ manpower requirements so they could adjust their curriculum, and ensure their graduates’ competitiveness.

The report will also recommend lengthening the 80-hour company immersion requirement of students, to at least 200 hours, the senator said.

Companies who will accept SHS students as trainees will receive government incentives, Gatchalian said.

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SUMMER NEEDS

Meanwhile, Gatchalian also said that school principals can tap their Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) in buying electric fans for their classrooms and other immediate needs during these summer months.

Gatchalian noted that schools can also request the assistance of the Parent-Teachers’ Association (PTA) for the same purpose.

“Meron silang pondo, they can use their own funds but ang school merong sariling MOOE 'yan. Alam ko, for example like in Valenzuela, bumibili ang mga principals namin ng mga electric fan. 'Yung PTA, actually maraming PTA, 'yan ang paboritong project nila magbigay ng electric fan so community rin ang nagtutulong-tulong para maging mas maaliwas ang classrooms natin,” Gatchalian told reporters.

To ensure both the students' and teachers’ safety amid the hot weather, teachers and other school officials must also refrain from giving extracurricular and co-curricular activities that are required to be done outdoors, he stressed.

And given the school principals’ authority to decide if there is a need to either suspend or shorten classes, they should now adopt the habit of checking the expected weather temperature for the day or week, he said.

"Kailangan lang nating i-remind ang ating mga principals na tignan nila ang klima, tignan nila ang forecast, magbasa sila ng news sa internet para malaman nila kung ano forecast sa mga susunod na panahon. Dahil hindi natin pwedeng kanselahin ang klase kung nakapasok na ang bata. Tignan din natin kung bukas eh papalo ng 40 or even higher, kanselahin na agad," Gatchalian said.

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