President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has backed proposals to review the country’s education curriculum in order to equip students with skills required by different industries and address the existing job mismatch.
Marcos, who is on his fifth day of isolation after testing positive for COVID-19, presided over a more than five-hour Cabinet meeting via teleconferencing Tuesday.
Marcos told his Cabinet members that basic education skills and knowledge must be improved to prepare students as they pursue a higher level of learning.
“That’s exactly what is happening. That is why we have to look at the curriculum as well. Not only TESDA (Technical Education and Skills Development Authority), but also even our diploma courses,” Marcos said.
For his part, Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual underscored the need for a review of the country’s curriculum, particularly for basic and tertiary education.
“We’re developing or helping universities develop this system of micro-credentialing because technology is changing very fast. There is a need for workers to update themselves, to reskill or upskill,” Pascual said.
Pascual cited the case of the National University of Singapore which offers focused but short courses on certain technology and awards students with micro-credential, which is similar to a diploma but for a short course.
The DTI secretary also underscored the need to send Filipino teachers abroad for training.
To address the current job mismatch, Pascual said the DTI will collaborate closely with the Department of Education, Commission on Higher Education, and TESDA.
Earlier, Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte-Carpio said Marcos is open to a possible review of the implementation of the K-to-12 program in schools.
“It is something that President Marcos and I have talked about. And he already gave instructions with regard to the review of the implementation of the K-to-12 program of the Department of Education,” Duterte-Carpio said.
The K-to-12 curriculum was first introduced in 2011 under the administration of the late President Benigno Aquino III.
