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Philippines
Friday, March 29, 2024

Developing human capital

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THE World Economic Forum recently released its 2017 Global Human Capital Report, where it ranked 130 countries on how they develop human capital.

Human capital is the set of knowledge and skills people possess that enable them to create value in the global economic system.

According to WEF, it is most developed in Norway, Finland, Switzerland, the United States and Denmark. In Asia, Singapore had the highest score—it ranked 11th in the world.

The survey measured how societies harnessed their human capital in four dimensions: capacity, deployment, development and know-how.

Capacity quantifies the existing stock of education across generations; deployment covers skills application and accumulation of skills through work; development reflects current efforts to educate, skill and upskill the student body and the working age population; know-how captures the breadth and depth of specialized skills use at work.

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Malaysia ranked 33rd, Thailand 40th, Vietnam 64th, Indonesia 65th. Other Southeast Asian countries—Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia, ranked 84th, 89th and 92nd, respectively.

The Philippines ranks 50th among 130. What do our numbers say?

We’re strong in capacity, measured by literacy and in attainment of primary, secondary and tertiary education. It is strongest for Filipinos between the ages of 15 and 24, with a literacy score of 98.5.

We could use some boost, however, in know-how, measured in terms of high- and medium-skilled employment share, economic complexity and availability of skilled employees.

While the Philippines is not among the poorest performers—in fact, like most countries in the region it is in the middle of the pack, and on average the world has developed just 62 percent of its human capital—imagine how much better life could be in the long term if the capacities, skills and potential of workers are harnessed in the right way, toward the right direction.

It is important to remember that these numbers on human capital are dynamic rather than fixed. “It can be enhanced over time, growing through use and depreciating through lack of use, across people’s lifetime,” says WEF.

We hope our officials can take some time off to look at the report more closely. Its aim is to “support governments, businesses, education providers and civil society institutions in identifying key areas for focus and investment.”

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