MANILA, Philippines — A nationwide group of teachers has urged the country’s sole congressional body tasked to review the education system to assess how education has contributed to the development of the local agriculture and whether there are enough opportunities for students to do so.
"It is not enough to assess why the employment rate of our K to 12 graduates is starkly low, and the attrition rate of those employed is high. It is more important to analyze how education served to be a tool for economic development through boosting local agriculture and building local industries," said Vladimer Quetua, chairperson of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers.
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The group called on the second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM II) to evaluate why the current curricula in schools gears students for a career in multinational companies "instead of developing our local production," as well as the absence of an agriculture track for senior high school.
"While a dominant majority of more than a million of K to 12 graduates we produce each year remain unemployed, our agricultural production is dipping and many of our micro, medium, and small enterprises are closing down," Quetua said.
The statement comes after the Commission on Human Rights released a report saying that a large number of K to 12 graduates struggled to find employment due to a supposed lack of soft skills — those related to "empathy, creativity, resilience, and communication" — during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This finding is based on the CHR's interviews with students, employers, non-government organizations and the reported high attrition rate among K to 12 graduates.
EDCOM 2 follows the first EDCOM convened in 1990, the findings of which produced some of the most historic policy changes in education in the country, including the creation of the Department of Education (DepEd), the Commission on Higher Education and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) to deliver three distinct education services: basic, higher and technical-vocational education.
Lack of farm schools
Quetua pointed out that students can gain access to "great opportunities in agriculture" only if the government would improve local production instead of relying on imports.
"Right now, there is no senior high school track for work in the agricultural sector. Many of our youth today would not dream of toiling on the land because farming in the Philippines still rely on backward tools and is economically unrewarding," Quetua said.
Currently, DepEd’s senior high school program offers some classes in agricultural and animal production under the agri-fishery specialization in the Technical-Vocational-Livelihood track. This track also allows students to specialize in home economics, information and communications technology, industrial arts and maritime work.
Meanwhile, TESDA establishes farm field schools in various provinces to increase the technical skills of farmers in compliance with the Rice Tarrification Law, which requires the "special role of farm schools" to enhance farmers' productivity and increase their income, according to a 2022 TESDA press release.
TESDA covers the costs of training and assessment in farm schools under its Training for Work Scholarship Program.
Latest TESDA figures show that there are only 399 farmer field school programs nationwide. Philstar.com has reached out to TESDA for a breakdown of these schools by region.
Quetua added that K to 12 graduates have to compete for a scant number of jobs that pay a measly wage due to the country’s undeveloped local production.
"There is a great need to redesign our economic program towards developing local production to create more jobs, and from there, overhaul our education system towards supporting this program for national development," he added.