NegOr biz leader pushes for digital education

CEBU CITY, July 23 (PIA) -- A business leader in the province of Negros Oriental is pushing to improve the global competitiveness of the labor force through the digitization of the basic education system in all public senior high schools in Central Visayas.

In a statement, Edward Du, who serves as the Regional Governor of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce (PCC) in Central Visayas, said digitization is the answer to address the mismatch between the job skills of Senior High School (SHS) students and their employability.

Du said only 10 out of 4,326 job opening were hired from a recent job fair in the region. “This is a monumental mismatch because jobs are available yet applicants are going home jobless because they are deemed unqualified. With the rapid growth of technology in the country, digitization is the only way to bridge the gaps of the country,” he said.

Du was speaking in a recent partnership summit in Dumaguete City attended by over 100 representatives and leaders from the Department of Education (DepEd), Negros Oriental provincial government, the academe, and business sector.

The summit aims to provide an avenue for private companies to support the educational sector’s goals in developing the country’s future workforce.

The activity, an initiative of Telstra Foundation Philippines and Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), in partnership with DepEd’s Regional Divisions and the business sector, hopes to establish and strengthen industry and academe linkages and provide SHS students with better access to quality education.

The PCC official said he is eyeing to establish linkages for work immersion opportunities of SHS students, teacher training, and use of facilities and additional resources.

During the event, Du also called on the support of the business sector to be more involved in making digitization possible. “Please help us in digital education because the future is Industry 4.0 There will be more online stores than malls and our students have to be ready for that,” he said.

Republic Act 10533, also known as the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013, focuses on equipping the country’s students with the necessary knowledge, skills and experiences that will enable them to either pursue higher education, vocational and skills training, start a business or get employed after high school graduation.

To support this, DepEd and PBSP brought together different stakeholders involved in doing initiatives to achieve quality, accessible, relevant basic education for all Filipino students.

Elvin Ivan Uy, PBSP’s Director for Operations, said the partnership summit is not just limited to DepEd, the local government units and non-government organizations only, but is more importantly an amalgamation of all sectors involved in advancing the country’s basic education system.

On the other hand, DepEd Assistant Regional Director for Region 7, Salustiano Jimenez, cited the importance of partnerships in realizing the great task of DepEd.

Other participants in the partnership summit include DepEd’s regional divisions of Negros Oriental, Bayawan and Bais City.

Representatives from Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) also presented each agency’s contribution to the SHS program’s implementation.

Industry partners present during the summit such as the Negros Oriental Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Siliman University, St. Paul University, Dumaguete Coconut Mills, Inc., and Philsouth Properties and Development Corp. also committed to contribute to the SHS program by serving as technical business incubators for the students.

The event ended with a ceremonial signing of commitment from all partners to help improve the SHS program of Negros Oriental. (rmn/PIA7)


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