The ETEEAP

The revolution in knowledgebased economics, globalization and the “flatness of the world” has exerted an increasing pressure in the education sector to continuously reinvent itself and be more accessible to the public. To be able to address the need for a globally competitive workforce, highly skilled individuals, and educationally qualified human resource—the Philippine higher education system responds to this by offering a more diversified modes of delivery of training and educational services—the Expanded Tertiary Education Equivalency and Accreditation Program (ETEEAP) came into being.

What is the ETEEAP?

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) embarks on this landmark policy which opens up the doors of formal academic institutions to accreditation of learning, knowledge, skills and values obtained by individuals outside their own systems. This policy is an outcome of the recommendations of the First Philippine Employment Summit in October 1995. The ETEEAP closely established the academe-industry linkage in an effort to advance the ability of the Filipino labor force to compete globally and gain an advantage in the so-called knowledge-based economy.

The ETEEAP mandate is embodied in Executive Order 330 issued by President Fidel V. Ramos on May 10, 1996 and is governed by rules and regulations specified in CHED Memorandum Order 08, s. 2009—“Revised Policies and Guidelines for the Expanded Tertiary Education Equivalency and Accreditation Program pursuant to Executive Order 330.”

It is a comprehensive educational assessment program which recognizes, accredits, and provides equivalency of knowledge, skills, attitudes and values (KSAVs) obtained by individuals from formal, non-formal and informal education, training and related work experiences vis-à-vis the formal education requirement and standards in higher education institutions (HEIs). As provided in the Executive Order 330, this program aims principally to certify “after thorough evaluation, the pertinent work experiences and knowledge acquired by individuals from high level, non-formal and informal training towards the awarding of an appropriate academic degree.”

Accordingly, the CHED authorizes HEIs to implement the program provided that they have sufficed the requirements of the commission as ETEEAP implementer.

The ETEEAP applicant/beneficiary

The population segment that is expected to benefit from the ETEEAP consists of people who generally did not complete their college education for one reason or another. It is pre-supposed that applicants are experienced and/or trained middle-level skilled workers in both private and public organizations, who, despite inadequate education qualifications, have continuously made a living. They are expected to possess proficiency in specific lines of work which jives with the course they want to pursue via the ETEEAP.

Specifically, the program requires that an applicant will be able to meet the following requirements: a) Filipino citizen who is at least 25 years old; b) possesses at least a H.S. diploma or the PEPT equivalent to first year college; c) be employed for an aggregate number of at least five years in the field or industry related to the academic program or discipline he/she is applying for equivalency; and d) be able to accomplish the ETEEAP application form. Given these standard qualification, the applicant must be able to prove all his/her claims through supporting documents.

The ETEEAP process

The program procedure starts with the submission of application and pre-assessment of such at the CHED Central Office. Once the applicant qualifies for the program, the CHED issues an endorsement to the deputized HEI to support the application for accreditation.

Validating test, interview, product presentation, skills demonstration, worksite visit, and portfolio assessment are used to evaluate and assess the applicant’s prior and experiential learning once he/she is officially accepted in the HEI.

A Panel of Experts (internal and external) assesses the candidate’s knowledge, skills, attitudes and values relevant to the particular discipline and determines the competency enhancement program the applicant needs to take in order to comply with the requirement for conferment of the degree being applied for.

After completing the equivalency and accreditation procedures, and the supplemental courses required, the successful applicant is awarded equivalent credits and an appropriate academic degree by the deputized higher education institutions.

The ETEEAP legacy

To date, with 247 baccalaureate and graduate programs in various disciplines being offered via the ETEEAP, it has graduated 6,321 individuals since its implementation began in School Year 2000-2001. CHED has deputized 90 HEIs both private and public all over the Philippines to implement the program.

The ETEEAP is indeed an innovation in the field of higher education and a strand of “hope” for those who are prospective beneficiaries of it. But equally, its implementation is not depleted with challenges, which the commission and the deputized HEIs, the industry, and the applicants continue to confront together.

As clearly as the intent and purpose of the program to legitimize non-school based learning, it accords the public a broadened access not only to educational opportunities but also, most significantly, to income opportunities for a great number of individuals who have long been at the waiting end of the organizational ladder because of their inadequacy in educational qualification.

Of the ETEEAP as a response to the emerging needs of human resource requirement globally, it can well be said that it leaves a highly skilled, and educationally qualified workforce as its legacy. –Felizardo Y. Francisco, Manila Times

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