Technology company IBM teamed up with the Taguig City University to introduce a new education platform and opportunity to address new collar skills shortage.
The six-year partnership involves embedding the so-called P-Tech [Pathways in Technology Early College High School] school model in the university’s curriculum starting with senior high students.
“It’s not another track but it is closely associated with the STEM [science, technology, engineering, mathematics] track. Interested stakeholders especially from the IT sector are encouraged to support this program. They have their required specific skills included in the P-Tech curriculum and they can adsorb the graduates as part of their labor pool. We’ ll make the industry select the skills needed and then well bridge that to finalize the curriculum,” said IBM country head Aileen Judan-Jiao.
She said new collar jobs are not just about credentials or degrees but also about capabilities.
IBM defined new collar jobs as the right mix of in-demand technical skills to perform roles such as integration specialists, systems data base administrators, infrastructure and enterprise architects.
IBM has been a trusted partner of the Philippines for over 80 years. “So it’s really logical for us to do it in the Philippines, as we move into this digital transformation. New collar jobs not replacing jobs that were there before but we have an emerging young and literate that really needs to be embedded in this new era called digital economy,” Jaio said.
Tthe Philippines will be the second Asean country after Singapore to replicate the P-Tech model and will be the tenth globally, after successful implementations in the United States, Morocco, Australia and Taiwan.
Singapore, Korea, Ireland, Brazil and Colombia have announced that P-Tech will be implemented in their countries by 2019.
Created by IBM in 2011, P-Tech creates a direct path between high school, college and career by uniting the expertise of the public and private sectors to strengthen education and reinvigorate local economies.
To date, P-Tech has been replicated in more than 110 schools worldwide and is expected to be in more than 200 schools by the end of 2019. More than 550 businesses in technology, healthcare, and advanced manufacturing currently participate in the initiative as industry partners.
“What is important is not the numbers but the commitment of stakeholders. When the industry and stakeholders such as the academe and the government are not committed, all efforts will go down the drain. We don’t want this to happen. P-Tech as part of the senior high curriculum gives us is a stable pool of talent. But not only IBM gets to benefit from the talents but also clients and the industry. It makes us competitive as a country,” Jaio said.
In the Philippines, P-Tech will span grades 11 to 12, with students graduating with Associate Degree in Computer Technology.
Beginning in senior high school, students will benefit from mentorships, worksite visits and project days—all of which will provide early exposure to careers in industries and disciplines that involve a background in STEM.
These opportunities will equip students with the necessary technology and workplace skills, as well as the degrees for competitive and fulfilling “new collar” careers.