In top shape

BPI Shape helps teachers prepare their students for life after K to 12.

MANILA, Philippines — If there’s anything more terrifying than being left out from a barkada trip to the beach, it’s the fact that students need to essentially choose their career path at the beginning of puberty. That’s a big decision to make for someone who can’t even decide on what to eat for breakfast. Thankfully, the K to 12 program has made it easier for students by giving them a taste of what these paths have to offer.

However, not everyone has the means or plans to go to college. But the K to 12 program was designed to open more opportunities for those who can’t afford to go to college, and organizations are already playing a role in grooming students in tip-top shape. This is where BPI SHAPE comes in.

BPI Foundation, the social innovation arm of the Bank of the Philippine Islands, YGOAL Inc. and the Department of Education teamed up to launch BPI SHAPE (Senior High Acceleration Program for Employment and Entrepreneurship). The program aims to help teachers prepare their students for life after school should they decide to work for someone else or their own. They created two modules that complements the curriculum: Values-Driven and Skills Development and Entrepreneurship and Financial Management. Both modules were designed to help them excel at the workforce or make setting up their own business less taxing.

The program kicked off in Taguig and Laguna in the last two years, and they have plans to expand it to Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Dasmariñas, Capiz and Misamis Oriental among others. They have already trained 153 teachers and provided internship opportunities for 50 senior high school students, and they only plan on growing the numbers bigger from here.

To make the internship matching easier, they created a social mobilization workshop for school heads and coordinators through Internship Philippines (internshipph.org). The website creates matches for students who want to experience their desired careers. Think Tinder, but for career opportunities. It can’t get any better than that.

While deciding on a career path may be scary, it doesn’t have to be complete shot in the dark. With BPI SHAPE, dabbling in a specific field is an option, and honestly, it makes adulting a less scary concept than before.                    

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For more information on BPI SHAPE, follow BPI Foundation’s Facebook page at facebook.com/BPIFoundation