MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte wants Filipino students to learn about computers and the internet to help them find jobs when they graduate.
In his speech after returning from the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation in Vietnam on Saturday, Duterte said he discussed the importance of developing "human capital" at the multinational summit. He said it is important to develop the potential workforce for sustainable employment and to make services competitive.
He said that the Philippines and other nations in Southeast Asia have the advantage of having many young people over countries that have aging populations.
"They have a zero increase in their population so they are worried who will run the country two or three generations from now," he said in a mix of Filipino and English.
"Let us take advantage of our young population and give them the necessary knowledge and the tools," he said.
The president said he will require Filipino students to learn at least "the basics about cyberspace and everything."
The country is in the process of shifting to the K-12 curriculum, which the government has been implementing to make Filipinos in the primary and secondary education system better prepared for employment. Senior high school includes technical and vocational subjects that are meant to give learners a chance at finding jobs straight out of high school.
The move has not been without opposition from parents and from activist groups who see the added two years in school as an additional expense and a plan to turn students into sources of labor.
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"And I will make that mandatory. Instead of textbook bibili na tayo ng (we will buy) — for each of the children. Mag-aral na sila ngayon (They should study it now) as early as first year," he said.
"And it is now mandatory for government to provide the textbooks and, of course, learn how to use the computers and everything," the president said.