THE DEPARTMENT of Education (DepEd) on Thursday rolled out the Bagong Pilipinas Serbisyo Fair (BPSF) to boost the employability of graduating Senior High School (SHS) learners.

The BPSF, launched in partnership with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), serves as a one-stop shop intended to provide pre-employment documents to SHS Technical-Vocational-Livelihood (TVL) graduates and Alternative Learning System (ALS) learners.

DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara said the move seeks to help graduating SHS learners to secure appropriate employment amid the “spiraling” effects of oil price surges due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

The initiative is in line with the directives of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to ensure the employability and skills matching of SHS graduates with the current industry demands.

“We are bringing the government closer to our learners to ensure that their transition from the classroom to the workplace is seamless and cost-free, as envisioned by President Marcos,” Angara said in a statement.

With the BPSF in place, each student can save up to PHP1,000 for clearance fees and transportation expenses.

Besides eased access to pre-employment requisitions, the program also provides job matching and a career guide to address gaps, as well as employment features from the private sector with job vacancies.

“Through these reforms and partnerships, we are transforming our graduates into highly employable assets who are ready to contribute to our nation’s growth,” Angara said.

The DepEd rolled out the BPSF in three public schools in Metro Manila: Tala National High School in Caloocan City, Makati High School in Barangay Poblacion, and Mataas na Paaralang Neptali A. Gonzales in Mandaluyong City.

The BPSF can serve at least 1,175 graduating SHS from the said schools.

The DepEd seeks to scale up the said program as about 550,000 SHS-TVL learners are set to graduate nationwide. (PNA)