(Updated 1:24 p.m.) Countries in Asia and the
Pacific, including the Philippines, need to scale up technical and
vocational training to create innovative markets and generate
sustainable, inclusive growth, the Asian Development Bank said
Wednesday.
“Countries in Asia will not be able
to create sufficient employment unless they address the serious skills
mismatches that exist in their labor markets,” Bindu Lohani, ADB vice
president for Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development, said in a
statement, citing results of the lender's latest report.
“While Asia and the Pacific accounts for almost half of global
unemployment, 45 percent of employers in the region face difficulty in
finding suitable talent in their markets,” it added.
Rene Ofreneo, professor and former dean at the UP School of Labor and
Industrial Relations, said the Philippines should establish and
strengthen industries as it upgrades labor skills.
“I agree... only to the extent that we should be preparing for
industrial needs. Now, the question is what industries in the country
will absorb workers?” Ofreneo told GMA News Online.
The ADB report, entitled “Skills Development for Inclusive and
Sustainable Growth in Developing Asia,” said that the Philippines along
with Cambodia, Mongolia, Pakistan and Vietnam have “a high share of
low-skilled workers” compared to the rest of the region.
“These countries are faced with skills development demands for upskilling,” the report read.
Large informal labor force is also unable to take full advantage of
arising opportunities in the market economy, resulting in inequitable
growth.
“Shifting away from the factory-driven
growth model of the past requires a technically adept market-driven
labor force able to generate creative, cutting edge ideas and products,”
the ADB said.
But “Asia’s training systems are
struggling to fill employers’ needs. Even those with graduate degrees
are lacking market-ready technical skills to be absorbed into the
workforce,” it added.
As such, the lender
concluded that “equipping secondary school and university graduates with
employable skills requires a shift from academically-oriented learning
to demand-driven courses relevant to industry needs.”
“There is greater rationale for demand-driven courses if such demand is
more apparent,” Ofreneo said, noting that Filipinos go abroad due to
lack of employment opportunities in the country.
Villanueva also said TESDA has been
increasing partnerships with key industries through regional fora and
consultations. “We get signals from the industry and develop competency
standards with industry practitioners,” he added. — VS, GMA News
In a separate interview with GMA News Online, Technical Education and
Skills Development Authority director general Emmanuel Joel Villanueva
said the government has been increasing efforts to upgrade skills of
Filipinos.
“Most, if not all our efforts,
[are] geared toward being market driven and building competency-based
labor market,” Villanueva noted.
“This is
also the reason why we have the K+12 [curriculum], where TVET (technical
and vocational education and training) is already part of basic
education to prepare the youth for employment in skilled occupations,”
he added.
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