Boo Chanco thinks the appointment of Romulo Neri as Chair of the Commission on Higher Education will address the disconnect between the graduates that schools produce and the jobs that are available. He also thinks that Neri will have the political will to close down diploma mills.

I am all for closing down diploma mills. I am wary though of retooling our education system just to accommodate what jobs there are.

The disconnect between the skills of the graduates and the jobs available is indeed a problem. To bridge the disconnect, CHED must have the means to compel schools to retool and churn out graduates that could fill up the jobs that are available.

Yes, the use of the words ‘retool’ and ‘churn’ are deliberate. Because that’s what Chanco and others are thinking – transform our schools into factories. (Yes, I’m old-school when it comes to education.)

Skills can be taught, but it will depend on the student’s aptitude. The National Collegiate Aptitude Examination is designed to guide a student in choosing what course to take in college. The rationale is that via NCAE, the student will take a course that he/she has the aptitude, therefore insuring that the student will somehow be successful. However, it is very possible that the course chosen is disconnected from whatever jobs there are – another graduate added in the jobless pool.

Call center companies complain that the supply cannot satisfy demand. You know what Chanco and others don’t know? Interview call center agents, past and present, and ask them what they feel. What Chanco and others don’t know is that the attrition rate in call center companies is high.

Also, not everyone can enter call center companies even if they are trained.

Remember Trade Secretary Peter Favila saying that there are jobs out there but Filipinos are just being choosy? In a way he is correct – we are choosy because we just cannot live on a pittance being paid to a welder. And that is I think the real problem is.

The gap between the salaries of a lathe machine operator and a call center agent is wide. So we train the operator to become a call center agent, even if he has no aptitude for it. The trained operator enters a call center company. Several months later, he is either terminated or resigned. Wash, rinse, repeat.

The problem is how to bridge the salary gap. This is what we should address.

RELATED POSTS:
More Problems in Education
For when dreams exceed one’s grasp