DepEd aims to boost senior high grad 'employability' with new JMCs

The Department of Education (DepEd) inked two joint memorandum circulars (JMCs) with three other government agencies on Friday for the integration of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) in the senior high school curriculum.

DepEd said that the JMCs aim to ensure inclusive, equitable quality education for all across the various levels of education, citing the need for "interagency collaboration."

Other government agencies included in the JMC are the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

"The signed JMCs are crucial to ensure our learners and graduates possess the essential competencies for technical professions and lifelong skills valuable for numerous opportunities such as college admission and employment,” said Vice President and concurrent Education chief Sara Duterte in a speech delivered by DepEd Undersecretary Michael Poa.

"It is a complete declaration of the government's commitment to enhancing skills-based education at the senior high school level and integrating it into the goals of higher education and the labor market," she added.

The first DepEd joint circular with TESDA focuses on establishing standardized assessment and certification procedures for the senior high school Technical Vocational Livelihood (TVL) track learners and teachers.

Likewise, the DepEd-TESDA pact provides that senior high school graduates or senior high school graduates in the TVL track can avail of free assessments in TESDA-accredited assessment centers, while senior high school teachers will receive free training and certification for the trainers methodology course.

“Through this initiative, DepEd and TESDA have committed to ensuring that the assessment process certification for senior high school and for senior high school TVL track are quality assured, providing a guarantee to all stakeholders that our graduates will be more competent and ready for the market demands and entrepreneurial opportunities,” Duterte said.

The second joint circular, on the other hand, expands collaboration by including CHED and the DOLE in the integration of TVET across all other non-TVET senior high school tracks to better prepare students for the workforce upon graduation.

Each student in senior high school can choose among three tracks: academic TVET, sports and the arts. 

The academic track includes three strands: Business, Accountancy, Management (BAM); Humanities, Education, Social Sciences (HESS); and Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM).

“We [in DepEd] will ensure that the performance tasks of learners are designed to showcase their skills and knowledge related to agriculture, fishery, arts, tourism, health, social and other community development, information and communications, technology, industrial arts and even performing arts,” she said.

Duterte said that through this joint effort, all graduates of senior high school will be provided with sufficient specialized and skills training. In addition, they will receive their diploma and one or two national certificate,s if they pass the assessment.

“The embedment of TVET into the senior high school curriculum will be more advantageous to all of our senior high school graduates in the future, especially now that we are partnering with DOLE to facilitate employment linkages and CHED for technical support,” she said. —VAL, GMA Integrated News