While senatorial candidate Bam Aquino has centered his campaign message on free college education and guaranteed employment, he said that he would also focus on finding jobs for K-12 graduates by linking the business and educational sectors.
Senatorial candidate Bam Aquino holds a multisectoral consultation with construction workers and tricycle operators and drivers. (Bam Aquino Media Bureau)
The former senator was in Quezon City on Tuesday, March 25, for a dialogue with construction workers, Tricycle Operators and Drivers Association, senior citizens, and the youth.
There, he underscored the importance of ensuring that there are employment opportunities waiting for K-12 graduates.
“Iyan mismo ang libreng kolehiyo, siguradong trabaho. Pati Grade 11 at Grade 12, nais din naming makita na pag-graduate mo ng Grade 12, hindi ka nag-college, may trabaho ka na (That free college, guaranteed jobs. We also want to see Grade 11 and Grade 12 that after they graduate Grade 12 and they couldn’t go to college, you can get a job),” he told the audience.
However, to do this, there needs to be cooperations between the schools and the business sector in the locality.
Aquino emphasized that schools must understand what local businesses need, so they can provide appropriate skills training to their students and address jobs mismatch in the country.
“Dapat alam ng mga eskuwelahan ang mga pangangailangan ng mga negosyante sa local level. Ilang empleyado ang kayang kunin bawat taon, ano ang skills na hinahanap nila, dapat napo-provide nila iyon (The schools should know the needs of the businesses in the locality level. How many people can they employ in a year, what skills are they looking for, they should be able to provide those),” he added.
The coordination between the schools and the local and national level should also include the employment of Grade 12 graduates because the former senator pointed out that a lot of Grade 12 students no longer go to college.
Aquino is the author of the Free College Law that sends Filipino youth to college for free. If he wins another term in Senate, he promised to push for more funding for the law to make college more accessible to the Filipino youth.