Students pasteurize bottles of mango jam during their class on food processing inside the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) complex in Taguig City on March 10, 2022. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News MANILA – The Department of Education (DepEd) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) are boosting the status of technical vocational education so it could become a “viable career option” for senior high school students in the Philippines.  

In a statement, DepEd said it identified common problems faced by technical vocational education and training (TVET) in its implementation in Southeast Asian countries.  

Among these challenges, the agency said, include funding and the “pressing need to improve the quality of graduates entering the workforce.”

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“Our regional landscape of [technical vocational education and training] is changing. TVET continues to equip our young people with a viable pathway, a quick pipeline from education to employment,” Education Secretary Sonny Angara said in his message read by Undersecretary Gina Gonong at the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization forum.  

“It is our responsibility to raise the profile and prestige of TVET, it should not be undervalued and overlooked, but rather progressed and flourished alongside our formal academic system,” Angara added.  

TESDA Director General Jose Francisco Benitez, for his part, said continuous regional efforts in improving technical vocational education is needed to maintain its relevance.  

“Changing these perceptions require continues emphasis on the relevance, quality and impact of [technical vocational education] on both individual success and broader economy as included in SEAMEO’s education agenda flagship initiatives of promoting [it],” Benitez said. 

President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. earlier this year asked education officials to integrate technical vocational education and training in the senior high school curriculum.

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Malacañang said this is part of efforts to ensure that students and graduates of senior high school are ready and employable for the workforce. 

TESDA had noted that only 20 percent of the total number of senior high school students have landed employment upon graduating.