Former Vice President and senatorial aspirant Jejomar Binay on Wednesday, April 20, vowed that he will push for more learning and job opportunities for out-of-school youths (OSYs).
Binay issued the statement after a study conducted by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) showed that the number of out-of-school youths increased during the pandemic, from 16.9 percent in January 2020 to 25.5 percent in April 2020.
“Kailangan nating tulungan ang mga out-of-school youth na magkaroon ng mas maraming pagkakataon na mapa-unlad ang kanilang buhay (We need to help our out-of-school youths so they can have the chance to improve their lives),” Binay said.
“We should bring them back to school, and also give them the option to learn skills they can use to get jobs. Dapat natin silang bigyan ng pag-asa at ipakita na nariyan ang pamahalaan upang kalingain sila (We should give them hope and show them that the government is there to support them),” he added.
The former vice president had earlier proposed the creation of a National Skills Education Council (NSEC) which aims to coordinate and assist in the development of course curricula to fit the needs of industries, as well as in projecting job trends to address the jobs-skills mismatch.
Part of the skills-matching program are the partnerships between schools and private firms where students can get hands-on training and where the courses are set to meet the needs of the company.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the country’s unemployment rate was pegged at 6.6 percent in December 2021. This is equivalent to 3.27 million Filipinos without work.
Meanwhile, the country’s underemployment rate has reached 14.7 percent during the same period.
Binay explained that more Filipinos, even prior to the pandemic, have been actively looking for work, which he partly attributed to jobs-skills mismatches.
“Schools and training agencies should be aware of the specific skills and knowledge that employers and industries need. This can be done through skills training partnerships patterned after the programs of the University of Makati,” Binay said.
Binay explained that the NSEC will be composed of both the government and private sectors and labor representatives.
He added that the proposed council will include the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).