SENATOR Pia Cayetano reiterated the need to come up with a ladderized education system particularly in health care programs.

“We are the breeding ground for the healthcare needs of the world. So how do we address this? Now is not the time for me to go into that, but we need to be prepared to adjust the way we look at our own healthcare workers. Two-year programs, three-year programs, baka kailangan sa tech voc may iba. So it’s like ladderized education,” Cayetano said.

She said that changing the traditional system would help ensure that the country will have sufficient manpower in the medical sector.

The senator explained that in a ladderized program, a student will be allowed to go from senior high to college or to take technical vocational course.

“I am speaking of healthcare because that’s the area that I am studying now. So whether it’s nurses, whether it’s assistants in the laboratory, whether it’s the guidance counselor assistants, there is something that they can do with a 6-month, 1-year, or 2-year, 3-year program,” she said.

“If we don’t evolve, we will never be able to have the manpower that we need,” she added.

Cayetano reiterated her recommendation to allow para-teachers saying the country is producing more children than teachers.

“So, if we do not empower other workers, whether they are voluntary parents from the parent-teacher association, we will never have enough and to think that we have a young population. Can you imagine? Tayo na nga ang mayroong young population, and yet we will not be able to meet that need because the ability of other countries to attract our graduates will just get stronger and stronger because they can afford to pay much more,” the lawmaker stressed.

She cited the system in Taguig where students are assured of jobs after graduation because of the city’s partnership with Information Technology companies.

“So grade 9-10, scholar na nila, ‘yang mga IT students na yan. And then they will give them jobs. And if you look at the trend in other countries, that’s the trend now as well. Apprenticeship programs instead of college degrees,” she said.