An official of the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP) called on the private business sector to consider changing policies and to provide jobs for graduates of Senior High School.
“One of the keys to solving [joblessness among Senior High School graduates] is to ensure proper training of [Senior High] graduates,” said Jose Allan Arellano, CEAP executive director.
He said, however, that “the greater solution is encouraging the business sector to expand or create more opportunities for entrepreneurship.”
“The government, therefore, through its monetary and fiscal programs, can help a lot to stimulate the economy and create more jobs,” said Arellano in a Radio Veritas 846 report.
He expressed CEAP’s willingness to talk with the private sector to help Senior High graduates find jobs even as he warned that Senior High graduates will have a difficult time competing with college graduates.
“Most companies use a hiring and recruitment policy based on merits and qualification of applicants,” he said.
“If they are faced with applicants who are coming straight from [Senior High Schools] and those who have tertiary education, they tend to get the one with better skills and educational background,” said Arellano.
He warned that if there are less opportunities in the business sector and there more job applicants, “the ones who suffer are those with less experience and years of education.”
Arellano issued the call following the Education department’s launching this year of the “MATATAG: Bansang Makabata, Batang Makabansa” program that aims to set the new direction of the agency and stakeholders in resolving basic education challenges.
Data show that only about 10 percent of Senior High School graduates find jobs every year although 83 percent pursue college education.
