Vice President Sara Duterte on Wednesday appealed to the business sector to consider hiring graduates of the K-12 program.
She made the call during her speech at the 48th Business Conference of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI).
“[In] the meeting that we had with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), [the] problem of the Department of Education (DepEd) [is] that our Grade 12 graduates are not immediately employable and they are not hired by the labor sector,” Duterte, who sits as the Secretary of Education, said.
Citing words from CHED, she said there is a “diploma mentality” in the country.
“Kailangan ba’ng graduate ng four years college ang mga ine-employ ng ating mga industries?” she asked.
Duterte said the education department is already taking necessary steps to prepare Grade 11 and 12 students for employment.
“So we hope that when we are finished with our task of making sure that our graduates, our grade 12 graduates, are ready. We hope to see the support of your sector in making sure that our grade 12 graduates are hired and employed by the industries that you participate in,” she added.
Duterte said as thousands of graduates join the workforce each year, she said the business sector's goal is to provide “opportunities” to them so that “they can start to earn and contribute to their families, build their dreams, and grow into valuable assets for nation building.”
“Our programs and plans for the eight years are laid out in our basic education development plan 2030. This is a long-term plan. This is also a promise that we will continue to find ways to improve basic education in terms of equity, quality, resiliency, and governance,” she said.
“I invite you to come to sit with us during our education stakeholders’ convergence next month to uncover opportunities for collaboration and public partnership. We look up to the transformational leadership from the business sector,” Duterte added.
