Baldoz to students: Take agriculture and fisheries courses

MANILA, Philippines—Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz on Monday advised would-be students, students, and graduates to consider taking up fisheries and agricultural courses or skills training and upgrading in these fields because job opportunities in these sectors abound and are “in-demand from 2011 and onward.”

Baldoz’s advice came as the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) earlier urged students to pursue “undersubscribed” programs which include those under agriculture and fisheries.

Baldoz pointed students to the labor market information (LMI) available at the DoLE’s Project Jobs Fit, which details a wide range of opportunities in the country’s key employment generators, including the “seven big winners”: agriculture, business process outsourcing (BPO), creative industries, infrastructure, manufacturing & logistics, mining and tourism.

“In agriculture alone, there are job opportunities in the medium- to long-term in the growing agri-business sector, notably such occupations as agricultural economists, those in animal husbandry, aqua-culturists, coconut farmers, entomologists, fruit, vegetable, and root crops farmers, fishermen, horticulturists, plant mechanics, rice thresher operator mechanics, veterinarians, and pathologists,” she said.

“My advice to students is to consider seriously taking up these courses if they want to get employed quickly,” she added.

Director Maria Criselda R. Sy of the DoLE’s Bureau of Local Employment bared that Project Jobs Fit also identifies “in-demand” sub-skills under these occupations, such as poultry raiser, livestock raiser/farmer, entrepreneur (animal production), independent farmer (owner/operator in a smaller operation), leading hand, agronomist, aqua-culturist, aquaculture farm caretaker, aquaculture farm aide, aquaculture facilities repair and maintenance worker, fish nursery worker, shrimp and fish growout worker, prawn farm cultivator, horticultural farm aide, horticultural farm caretaker, coffee and cacao farmer.

Project JobsFit is part of the DoLE reforms on employment facilitation which forms part of the 22-point agenda of President Benigno S. Aquino III.

The reform calls for disseminating labor market information on new and emerging industries and preferred skills that must be generated per region in the next 10 years.

“We will review the Jobs Fit Report biennially to analyze labor market trends and to make the data correct for timely and accurate dissemination to the public,” Baldoz said. –INQUIRER.net