Sara Duterte seeks business sector’s assistance in getting K-12 graduates hired

Vice President Sara Duterte on Wednesday appealed to the business sector to hire K-12 graduates.

In her keynote address during the 48th Philippine Business Conference and Expo in Manila, Duterte said that the country’s employment sector has a “diploma mentality,” in which employers prefer those who have finished a four-year college degree rather than a K-12 graduate.

“Our K-12 graduates are not immediately employable and they are not hired by the labor sector,” the Vice President said.

“The Department of Education is already working on how to make our grades 11-12 ready for work and are skill-ready when they graduate from the K-12 program,” she added, noting that the “only mandatory education is basic education —Kindergarten to Grade 12.”

“We hope to seek the support of your sector in making sure that our Grade 12 graduates are hired and employed by the industries you participate in,” she said.

In his address, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry president George Barcelon said that the K-12 system must be reviewed to take into consideration the rapid growth in technology.

“In the same breath, our teachers must be re-trained to keep pace with technological developments. Children now need connectivity to the internet; they need computers and modern educational tools so that they can participate fully in this digital world we now live in,” Barcelon said.

“It gives us comfort that no less than you, Vice President Sara, have taken the education portfolio. This gives us the assurance that reforms in the education sector will be implemented with urgency,” he added.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in his first State of the Nation Address, said that the K-12 program is under "careful review."

In a chance interview with reporters on the sidelines of the event, Duterte said the DepEd is taking into consideration the suggestions of the Department of Labor and Employment and the Commission on Higher Education “on how to make our grade 12 graduates ready for employment.”
 
The Vice President said the DepEd is now in the process of completing its review of the K–10 program and is starting the review of the Grade 11–12 program. — VBL, GMA News