THE TECHNICAL Education and Skills Development Authority assured that the recently signed Joint Memorandum Circulars among Philippine education agencies will produce multi-skilled and job-ready Senior High School graduates.

TESDA Director General Suharto Mangudadatu emphasized that the said JMCs harmonize the policies of TESDA, the Department of Education, Commission on Higher Education and the Department of Labor and Employment for the country’s education and labor sectors.

“Tamang-tama po itong pag-embed [ng TVET] kasi ongoing po ang MATATAG Curriculum [review] ng DepEd kaya isinasabay po namin doon para magkaroon ng match [sa TESDA],” Mangudadatu said during the deliberation of the Committee on Basic Education and Culture of the House of Representatives last May 20.

It can be recalled that TESDA signed a JMC with the DepEd that institutionalizes the mandatory assessment for certification of SHS-TVL graduates, and another JMC with the DepEd, CHED, and DOLE that will embed tech-voc training in all SHS academic tracks.

These JMCs are responding to the 2018 and 2020 study of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) entitled Senior High School and the Labor Market: Perspectives of Grade 12 Students and Human Resource Officers and Employability of the Senior High School Graduates: Evidence from the Labor Force Survey respectively.

The studies showed that employers remain cautious about hiring SHS graduates. This hesitation stems from a lack of clear understanding of the skills and capabilities these graduates possess.

It also underscored the need to reassess the employment and entrepreneurial goals of the Senior High School program. Enterprises or firms perceive that Senior High School graduates are not work-ready, it added.

Meanwhile, Mangudadatu committed that the government will do its best to strengthen the SHS curriculum, particularly the tech-voc track, to produce multi-skilled and job-ready Filipino workers.

“Asahan po Ninyo [kami] kasi ‘yan din po ang pangarap natin, pangarap ng Kongreso at Senado, lalung-lalo na ang pangarap ni President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. na magkaroon ng multi-skilled [Filipino workers],” the TESDA chief said.

In his presentation during the deliberation, Mangudadatu likewise said that TESDA, along with the other education agencies, remains steadfast in its resolve to harmonize education governance in the country, to enhance human capital, and help ensure that graduates will find quality employment with the certification that they obtain through assessment.