Vocational Education and Training in the Philippines

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter provides an overview of vocational education and training (VET) in the Philippines. The system enrolls about 2.5 million students, 60% of whom are in public institutions. In terms of the number of VET institutions, however, public institutions constitute only 9%. While the VET usually starts after secondary schooling, upper secondary school has a VET track that makes graduates eligible for levels 1 and 2 of the national certification for VET graduates. Quality control starts with assessing the proposed program and the capacity of institutions wanting to offer VET courses based on training regulations (TRs) promulgated by the Technical Education Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Board – the highest policy-making body. The TRs guide the registration requirements, curriculum, conduct of training, and competency assessment, and certification of training programs. There are three modes of delivery: institution based (in technical vocational institutes), enterprise based, and community based. The push for the equity objective of VET has substantially increased the proportion coming out of community-based training, reaching more than 40% in 2019. Included in this mode are special programs for disadvantaged groups. The main challenges of the system include: (a) keeping the quality of community-based training, (b) promoting enterprise-based training, (c) incorporating transversal skills, (d) expanding capacities for flexible delivery modes, (e) balancing training needs of new labor entrants and upgrading required by cutting-edge production technology, (f) better utilization of allocated resources, (g) greater regulatory capacity for training in the face of rapidly changing labor market, and (h) improving the image of VET.KeywordsVETTVETPhilippines