Project News

On 2nd April, the workshop was conducted to identify the gap between competencies of senior high school graduates and needs of society in order to reflect the findings into the School Improvement Plan / Annual Improvement Plan in school year 2014-2015. The administrators and Industrial Linkage Coordinators of three pilot schools located near Manila participated.

In the workshop, the participants discussed the current situation of senior high school program, its challenges, and the gaps between competencies of their graduates and needs of society. The practices of one school may be a good reference for others, so the session to exchange ideas among three schools was also organized. The following issues were identified during the workshop:

Curriculum Alignment

• The lack of equipment becomes a big obstacle to deliver the education that meet the industrial needs, especially in subjects which require hands-on exercises, such as metal works and automotive.
• Some students are not serious about working. Good orientation and sensitization for students are required.
• More attention should be paid to mathematics, English and communication skill.

Linkage with industries

• Tech-Voc teachers need capacity development in cooperation with the industries.
• It is difficult for some subjects such as Housekeeping and Bread and Pastry course to find OJT opportunity, while OJT in other subjects require longer hours. It is better to establish more partnerships with companies so that students are given many OJT opportunities and conditions to choose from.
• The system to give the incentive to the industries like "Adopt-A-School program" should be introduced.

Through this workshop, we found that those pilot schools were tackling with issues and exploring the partnerships with industries in order to provide good Tech-Voc education to their students. The Project Team will continue the collaboration with the pilot schools and collect good practices and lessons learnt for models schools and Tech-Voc high schools all over the Philippines.