RUNNING HEAD: EMPLOYABILITY OF THE 1ST BATCH OF K-12 GRADUATES

Employability of the 1st Batch of K to 12 Graduates

A Socio Political Paper Presented to:

Dr. Roger S. Ambida

Trainer

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the

Commission on Higher Education 2nd Generation on Faculty Training

for the New General Education Courses ( Purposive Communication)

by

Henreitta D. Miranda

January 2018

PREPARED BY: HENREITTA D. MIRANDA- BulSU

RUNNING HEAD: EMPLOYABILITY OF THE 1ST BATCH OF K-12 GRADUATES

The Philippine educational system had undergone a drastic change on its curriculum when the

former President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino approved the K-12 curriculum implementation better

known as the Republic Act No. 10533, despite the various protests that it met from the people specially

the parents and the students as they the ones directly affected on this issue. According to a statement

given by the Department of Education (DepEd Primer, 2011), K-12 curriculum is geared to the

development of the students in order to meet the rigidity and steep competition in the industry. The K-

12 education plan had been published on October 5, 2010 as part of the education reform of the former

administration. The P-noy administration believed that in adding more years to the basic education , it

could help eradicate or at least diminish unemployment among his constituents since students will

undergo skills training that will supposedly hone and prepare them to acquire competencies so they will

be hirable as soon as they finish senior high, should they opt not to pursue college education.

The implementation of the K to 12 program of the former administration had not been very

easy, in fact it faced several oppositions and protest among the people who were directly affected by

this sudden change. The Supreme Court had accepted 5 petitions against the implementation of the

program which had been shrugged upon by Department of Education and the administration.

In this new curriculum, the educational system in the Philippines is said to be parallel with the

other countries; it is then said to be a compliance on the new trend of teaching which is “Teaching and

Learning in the 21st Century.” This teaching and learning in the 21st century was envisioned by several

organizations it is a combination of technology, learning outcomes and evident changes on how

students and teachers learn concepts. This concept of education as well believes that for the students to

be employable before finishing a degree, they should already possess the basic qualifications of a

hireable employee.

PREPARED BY: HENREITTA D. MIRANDA- BulSU

RUNNING HEAD: EMPLOYABILITY OF THE 1ST BATCH OF K-12 GRADUATES

Based on concept of C21 and P21, a Canadian and American organizations respectively, the

competencies of a potential employee are as follows: creativity, entrepreneurship, innovation, critical

thinking, collaboration, ethical citizenship and literacy on computer and digital technology

Now that the first batch of K-12 will be graduating in 2018, the next question is, “Is the Industry

ready to hire them?” From an interview done by GMA Network with Charito Salazar, Secretary- General

of National Industry- Academe Council (NIAC), the new K to 12 curriculum had done their part in this

educational reform. The students are equipped with the skills and competencies needed to get a job.

Salazar further claimed that most entry level jobs in the industry do not require college degree or

diploma. However, the industry at the moment seems to be very hesitant with the employment of

senior high graduates.

Further, on the interview of Rappler with Ramon del Rosario, chair of Philippine Business for

Education (PBEd), he stated that it is important for the people and the industry to accept and realize

that in reality, the graduates of K to 12 are already ready for the employment of most entry level jobs.

He emphasizes that most entry level employment do not require college degree.

DepEd aimed to align the basic education curriculum to the demands of the international

market. The K to 12 program is designed to immediately address the need for “in- demand” jobs. Based

on the program, the government had designed 4 tracks of learning for the students to choose from.

These tracks are namely: Sports track, arts and design track, academic track and the technical-

vocational- livelihood track. Where in, the Technical- Vocational- Livelihood (TVL) attracted 48.9% of the

overall population of Senior High School enrollees

Most senior high school students who will be graduating this 2018 has taken the Vocational

courses which will make them readily employable by local and foreign companies. The skills that were

produced by the K to 12 program are as follows: domestic helper, welder, plumber, tailor or

PREPARED BY: HENREITTA D. MIRANDA- BulSU

RUNNING HEAD: EMPLOYABILITY OF THE 1ST BATCH OF K-12 GRADUATES

dressmaker, cook, butcher, beauty and nail care specialist, food and beverage, wellness massage, tour

guiding services and contact centers. These jobs do not require college degree and readily employable,

but the only problem is that, the government is bringing down the age of employable pool to a lower

age bracket, hence creating a higher number of unemployment in the long run.

From the write up of Tucay (2015) on Daily Inquirer, K to 12 program is designed and engineered

in way that students are given the license to drop out of school before finishing high school or readily

apply for a job after senior high. Though it appears to address the immediate need to income and

sustenance, still in the long run it will bloat the unemployment rate as the “in-demand” jobs that DepEd

believes to address are based on the demands of the international market. Tucay further discussed that

on the increase of employment and steep competition among the unemployed graduates and the

graduates of K to 12 program, lower wages will occur since potential employers will be faced with a

surplus of labor.

This was seconded by the research conducted by Ibon Foundation that stated, the country

deploys 4,500 workers abroad per day outpacing the 2800 average daily job creation domestically. This

will worsen as the graduates of K to 12 seek employment.

Meanwhile, according to Jackson (2013) on her contribution to the Asia Pacific Journal entitled,

“ The Contribution of Work- Integrated Learning to Undergraduate Employability Skill Outcome,” similar

issue had happened in Australia when their educational system was reformed and the employability of

undergraduates had been integrated by means of developing students competencies via outcome. In

her study, it was concluded that students who finish this type of curricula were able to show that they

are ready for the job. Further, results indicated a remarkable improvement on perceived ability to

perform among K-12 graduates.

PREPARED BY: HENREITTA D. MIRANDA- BulSU

RUNNING HEAD: EMPLOYABILITY OF THE 1ST BATCH OF K-12 GRADUATES

However, the interview with the President Love Basillate of Business for Education (PBEd) by

GMA Network, wherein she stated that in order for the K-12 curriculum to progress and attain its goals

in uplifting the employability of K-12 graduates, the private sector or the business community should be

an equal partner. Further, the industry needs to explicitly define the guidelines in the learning outcomes

and performance criteria that they need in order for the schools to comply with it.

There seems to be a problem with acceptance and the readiness of the industry in terms of

employing the new graduates of K to 12. According to the PBEd chair, there is still the lack of

acceptance among the industry. He mentioned that aside from being a new trend in employment, some

companies still would like to employ graduates since the country has a huge surplus of unemployed

graduates. For the companies to hire the graduates of a degree, this ensures that they are able to focus

on the task at hand since they will no longer wish to study in order to finish a degree.

Szablowska-Minor (2007) mentioned that in order for the industry to support this change in the

educational system, they should be presenting guidelines where students have chosen to align with. The

guidelines should create equal opportunity of both degree holders and senior high graduates. Both

should share minimum standards, skills and knowledge.

Chalkley & Craig (2000) share the same point of view with the previously cited researcher, who

seconded that the academe and the industry should share the same goals. Industry should present

detailed expectations which will become the basis of the what should the students can do after they

graduate. Learning outcomes and criteria are great measurements relating to the readiness of the

potential employees. Further, the industry should also clearly state the competencies and qualities

employable for undergraduates, senior high graduates and degree holders. The guidelines will help

create progress and performance in the curriculum reform. This also can be a good basis for quality

assurance.

PREPARED BY: HENREITTA D. MIRANDA- BulSU

RUNNING HEAD: EMPLOYABILITY OF THE 1ST BATCH OF K-12 GRADUATES

Incidentally, on another interview, Chair del Rosario cited that some highly organized companies

are ready to employ these graduates. They are the ones highly aggressive in embracing the new scheme

in the educational system. He further notes that the government should be more aggressive in putting

up linkages with the industry sector.

The preparedness of the government in the last pace of the K to 12 implementation still seems

to be weak since, the current administration, the Duterte Administration, lacks the familiarity and

appeal to encourage the industry sector to create linkages.

Based on the interview with Education Undersecretary Jesus Mateo, he stated that DepEd’s

focus now on the last leg of the implementation of the program is on creating linkages though he

confessed that the former P-noy Administration was able to create on 13 linkages in the industry and

the lack of appeal of the Duterte Administration will surely weaken the possibility of the senior high

graduates’ employability. This claim was seconded by the statement of PBEd, that Philippine Education

appears to be the 2nd lowest industry-academe linkage in the region.

Now, everyone is faced with the uncertainty of the employment of the 1st batch of graduates for

the new curriculum, K to 12. Although hope is there that will help the Filipinos to continue to look at the

effects of the new curriculum with positivity, still there are doubts, pessimism and negativity lurking

around that hinder from completely seeing the outcomes as projected by the initiator of this program.

PREPARED BY: HENREITTA D. MIRANDA- BulSU

RUNNING HEAD: EMPLOYABILITY OF THE 1ST BATCH OF K-12 GRADUATES

References:

Chalkey, B. and Craig L. (2000) Benchmark Standards for Higher Education: Introducing the First Bench-
mark Standards for Higher Education Geography Journal of Geography in Higher Education.
Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 24(3): 395-398

Department of Education (2011) DepEd Primer: K to 12 Curriculum

Geronimo, Jee Y., ( 2017) Employability of K to 12 Graduates, www. rappler.com 2:30 pm

Jackson, Denise (2013) The Contribution of Work- Integrated Learning to Undergraduate Employability:
Asia- Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education, V2 N2 pp. 99-115

Szablowska- Midor, A. (2007) UNIGIS Studies in Poland- Learning GIS at a Distance, In K. Donert and P.
Charnzyski (Eds), Changing Horizons in Geography Education; Torun Poland: HERODOT Network

www. C2.com.ca

www. gmanetwork.com

www. inquierer.net

www. P21.org

www. youtube.com

PREPARED BY: HENREITTA D. MIRANDA- BulSU