SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian on Sunday stressed the urgency for educational reforms to boost Filipinos’ competitiveness following the release of a report which showed the Philippines at the bottom of Coursera’s Global Skills Report.

Out of 100 countries, the Philippines ranked 99th in the skills report which ranks skills and proficiency of learners in business, technology, and data science.

The country’s ranking fell by 29 spots from 70th place out of 102 countries in 2022.

The report draws skills insights for 100 countries from Coursera’s registered learner base of 124 million learners, 1.8 million of which are in the Philippines.

“Sa pagsulong at pagpapatupad natin ng mga reporma sa edukasyon, dapat tiyakin nating hindi mapag-iiwanan ang ating mga kabataang Pilipino pagdating sa kahandaan sa trabaho at sa paggamit ng mga bagong teknolohiya. Tungkulin nating siguruhin na akma ang kanilang mga kakayahan sa kinakailangan ng ating mga industriya,” Gatchalian said.

Since the Second Congressional Commission on Education has begun its assessment of the country’s education sector, Gatchalian maintained that the body’s proposed reforms should boost Filipinos’ proficiencies in areas covered by the report, especially as more companies adopt new technologies to boost productivity.

While higher education institutions equip students with skills needed in the workplace, the senator said that the senior high school program should deliver on its promise to ensure work readiness for its graduates.

The Batang Magaling Act or Senate Bill 2022, which Gatchalian filed, proposes the creation of the National and Local Batang Magaling Councils to strengthen the linkages and collaboration among the Department of Education, local government units, academic communities and industry partners.