Tech Voc Episode: Effectiveness of K-12 Education in the Philippines

The purpose of the K-12 is to elevate basic education to a globally competitive level and benefit our children.

Did it benefit our students?

Did we produce globally competitive graduates?

Time for the Philippines to change Technical Vocational Education and Training structure and adapt higher non-traditional and age-old techniques for better tech voc graduates and better Philippines.

Quezon City, July 2022. An interview with Mr. Tony Galvez, one of Manila’s premier hair guru. He is a professional tech voc teacher, trainor, assessor and a master in Hairdressing and Beauty Care with years of tech voc practice and exposure. Galvez discussed his point of view on tech voc in the K-12 Technical Vocational Livelihood and TESDA system in Philippine Qualifications Framework (PQF).

Wag ganon, mali yon!

The Department of Education (DepEd) has taken tech voc basic NC II on their K-12 Technical Vocational Livelihood Education (TLE) program for 2 years, whose main objective is to produce job-ready graduates. “DepEd’s Technical Vocational Livelihood (TVL) track teachers and trainers are not industry expert practitioners. They are products of general academic and short skills training. These teachers have no appropriate or relevant and adequate industry exposure or working experience. It is a waste of time for Senior High School (SHS) students who have to endure two years. Whereas, they could already use the said two years for a particular TVET industry specialization in a specific and restrictive field of occupation, using applied subjects in Entrepreneurship and Humanities to become job-ready and entrepreneur ready.” said Galvez. Separate tech-voc programs from K-12 and professionalize Technical Vocational Education and Training service-oriented tracks for global competitiveness. “Let us learn from Filipino seafarers found by international employers with serious flaws in training implemented by our country. Education and training skills fail to comply with international maritime education and training standards, including certification systems.” he added.

Remove Tech-Voc Strand in Senior High School (SHS)

There is a lot of inclination to tech voc, but the government didn’t find ways.

Tech Voc groups want to abolish or remove tech voc education and training or TVET from K-12 from Senior High School.

The tech voc practitioner clamors to RETAIN the Junior High School and therefore professionalize tech voc education to encourage students to enroll in tech voc courses.

Technical Vocational Institutions or TVIs’ proposal is to reshape the TVET program and curriculum. They propose the professionalization and licensing of Tech-Voc tracks; these are the Professional tracks and the Livelihood tracks. Furthermore, uplift the status of TESDA or tech voc graduates by securing a license to become a professional.

Overhaul the education system, including TESDA

Mr. Tony Galvez, President and owner of The Tony Galvez School of Cosmetology, a member and officer of Technical Vocational Schools and Associations of the Philippines (TeVSAPhil) District, NCR and National; and a member of Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry-Quezon City; reiterates that there should be a dedicated agency to handle the tech voc strands and remove it from Senior High School or K-12. Galvez explains, “For a seamless design and implementation of the tech voc curriculum, let the experts in the field of tech voc do the teaching. TechVoc should be under higher educational institutions, separate from DepEd and CHEd. Even the government-run TESDA needs to calibrate its program in tune with the global demands and high quality training education.” TESDA could no longer deliver on its mandate. Our government needs to overhaul TESDA, overhaul the education system.

Moreover, for tech voc to produce globally competitive professionals, its assigned agencies and Technical Vocational Institutes (TVIs) should be provided with facilities at par with global standards and faculty members or instructors are in place. Tech voc teachers are qualified and experts in the field with a level of mastery and that it can produce quality output.

Tech voc should have qualified instructors or teachers with a level of mastery and expert in the field of their study.

With K-12 Senior High School, tech voc strands or technical vocational Livelihood Education (TLE) are taught by teachers without prior knowledge in the field. They rely on their assigned modules approved by DepEd. They teach only the BASIC principle and general views. Most of the instructors or teachers went under Trained the Trainers workshop or Training Methodology. After several sessions, they are deployed as tech voc instructors assigned by DepED or by the school management.

May accounting nga di naman CPA O Certified Public Accountant ang magtuturo eh basic knowledge ang ituturo nya maraming mali, ano mangyayayari? Revamp the K-12 at tanggaling ang Tech Voc sa DepEd. Hindi solusyon ang pag-abolish sa K-12 bagkus paigtingin ang kalidad ng turo.

In layman’s term, ang elementary at high school (lower school, middle school, high school) ay para sa DepED, ang TechVoc ay para TVI or ahensya na mamahala nito. At ang kolehiyo (college) ay para sa CHEd.

Interpretation of Philippine Qualifications Framework

“Walang kahihinatnan ang Tech Voc sa K12, walang akmang teacher, walang pasilidad, walang advanced level of teaching. Ang mga gradweyts ng TechVoc sa K-12 or kahit TESDA ay panay NCII lang ang natapos. Ano ibig sabihin nito? NCII ayon sa Philippine Qualifications Framework (PQF) at base sa guidelines ng Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) – NCII equivalency is a NOVICE only.” mentioned by Galvez. The tech voc strands should include NCIII to NCIV to complete the global competitive standards. Why is this important? If you’re a holder of NCII training certificate, employers here will not hire you, you lack the skills and training. When you decide to apply for a job overseas, NCII is a NOVICE, not even considered a BASIC training. They will not hire you based on the training skills you received from K12 or TESDA, because it do not follow global standards. You need to gain further studies to attain NCIII and NCIV level of competencies.

References:

Echo Manila (2021, May). Press Release article. Towards an Improved Pinoy Technical Vocational Education and Training.

Galvez, A. (2021). For Better Pinoy Technical Vocational Educational and Training (TVET) material presentation.

Pinoy Tech Voc. Techvoc Image in the Philippines. [Online]. Available at: https://pinoytechvoc.blogspot.com/2022/03/techvoc-image-in-philippines.html [Accessed (July 15, 2022)].

Villena, D. (2022, March 21). Philippines as the Tech Voc Center in Asia. [Online]. Available at: https://www.deiville.com/philippines-as-the-tech-voc-center-in-asia/ [Accessed (July 15, 2022)].

DeiVille.com, created by Green Dei (Daryll Villena)
Write us at deiville.com(at)gmail(dot)com for tips on digital branding, entrepreneurship, consumerism, parenting, health talk, women talk, Pinoy travels and Manila lifestyle.

If you find this post helpful, informative or entertaining, feel free to SHARE it.
Get instant updates from deiville.com on:
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | YouTube

I’d love to know what you think about this post. Feel free to leave your comment.
I do reply to each of your messages or questions so please come back if you’ve left one.

Disclosure: DeiVille receives products in order to conduct reviews. No monetary compensation was provided unless noted otherwise. All opinions are 100% my own. Some posts may contain web links in exchange for payment. In the event of a giveaway, the sponsor is responsible for delivery of the prize, unless otherwise noted in the posting. I only recommend, discuss, or introduce products/services/businesses I personally use and believe will be a good fit for my readers.