Advocacy group urges employers to shift mindset on hiring senior high graduates

Metro Manila, Philippines - The mindset shift among employers in hiring senior high school (SHS) graduates is critical in boosting employability amid limited opportunities for non-college degree holders, an advocacy group said.

Justine Raagas, executive director for the Philippine Business for Education (PBED), called on the private sector to open its doors to SHS graduates with enough competency for the workforce.

PBED’s 2024 job outlook study showed that while there were improvements on employer willingness to take in high school graduates, only 27% actually hired them in entry-level jobs.

The group also noted that one in five employers still look for work experience for entry-level positions.

“The challenge now is that the current mindset has always been perpetrated because of oversupply also of college graduates, that's one. But the mindset has also been perpetrated because it's the easiest thing to do,” said Raagas at the sidelines of PBED’s forum on “Building the next gen workforce” on Thursday, Jan. 23.

“It's important to also take an honest-to-goodness look at what the current jobs are and take a look at ano ba talaga iyong skills required na to, hindi iyong ano ba iyong certificate or ano ba iyong degree na kailangan,” she added.

[Translation: It's important to also take an honest-to-goodness look at what the current jobs are and really examine what skills are actually required, not just focus on what certificate or degree is needed]

PBED’s study also noted that majority of employers still prefer a bachelor’s degree.

The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), however, said the preference has slightly changed.

“So TVET (Technical and Vocational Education and Training) study at the beginning showed that maybe only 2 out of 5, so that's 20%, wanted or willing. But the most recent one is that it has gone up to 60%. And it looks like it's going up even more. The only way to ensure that is for TESDA's certification process to be truly industry aligned,” Kiko Benitez, TESDA director-general, said in a chance interview.

Meanwhile, Raagas said it is crucial for the private sector to weigh in on what the curriculum should entail to ensure senior high school graduates are job-ready.

The PBED said it has partnered with over 200 private partners for its programs to equip students and make them job-ready.

“Sila (private sector) din iyong magsasabi na this training program, if nakuha ng isang tao itong training program na ito and if they develop that skill, pwede na silang mag-move up,” Raagas said.

[Translation: The private sector would be the ones to say that if a person completes this training program and develops the skill, they should be able to move up.]

Education Secretary Sonny Angara earlier said his agency plans to carry out a revised SHS curriculum by SY 2025-2026. Part of the revisions would be cutting the number of core subjects from 15 to just 5 -7 to focus on electives and work immersion.

“What it does is actually allow students the greater capacity to explore their passions,” Benitez said in response to the proposed curriculum change.