DOLE guiding HS students to ‘right courses’

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is now taking steps to help senior high school students prepare for the right courses they should take in college.

DOLE Undersecretary Danilo Cruz said that this is part of the department’s campaign to solve the skills mismatch problem in the country.

During the program “Talking Points” held at the Philippine Information Agency, Cruz said the agency is now providing third and fourth year high school students throughout the country with an effective career and employment guide counseling.

“We are working to effectively teach the youth how to plan their career including what course to take in college that would give them a greater chance of employability in the future,” Cruz said.

He said that through proper career coaching, students will be able to determine the course they will take in college by giving preference to jobs that match their interests, skills, values, and other abilities and more importantly, that the industries need.

He said the intervention will help majority of graduating high school students determine the “right job” for them in the future, assuring them of employment in the particular industry they trained for, and at the same time, curbing the job mismatch problem.

Cruz also said that the DOLE has continuous coordination with other concerned government agencies, including the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), to determine and regulate courses that would produce graduates who cannot be employed in the future and determine those that would.

He likewise was emphatic on what courses would have the highest batting average in terms of employability and these are – mining, welder, mechanics, aeronautics, geology, and software engineering.

To address the jobs-skills mismatch, the CHED has been providing scholarship grants to priority courses as a way to influence the course preferences of graduating high school students as well as present first year and second year college students. –Philippine Star