Project News

The first Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) Meeting for the project was held in Manila on 4th July 2014. The meeting was chaired by Undersecretary Dina S. Ocampo of the Department of Education (DepEd), with Mr. Noriaki Niwa, Chief Representative of the JICA Philippine Office, as Vice Chairperson. Representatives from JICA Philippine Office, TESDA, CHED, DepEd Bureau of Secondary Education, DepEd Technical Vocational Unit attended the meeting. The representatives from the pilot schools, Don Alejandro Roces Sr. Science Technology High School, Rizal Experimental Station and Pilot School for Cottage Industries, San Pedro Relocation Center National High School, and Subangdaku Technical Vocational High School also attended.

During the meeting, work plan for the first year of the project was presented and the progress of project outputs was reported, including key activities accomplished so far. The Project Design Matrix was discussed and the modifications for indicators were agreed to meet the current situation. The participants also recognized the importance of documenting SHS initiatives and the best practices observed in the pilot schools .

The participants inquired technical education in Japan in order to extract useful practices and mechanisms to improve tech-voc education in the Philippines. The Chief Adviser of the Project, Tetsuya Ishii explained that curriculum of Japanese technical education consists of approximately 60% core subjects and 40% specialized subjects. In order to motivate students towards core subjects (which tends to be theoretical), Japanese teachers encourage them to study specialized subjects (which is often more practical), highlighting how learning at school is related to real life. After listening to the strategy commonly used in technical high school in Japan, the Undersecretary expressed her understanding on the importance of balance between core subjects and specialized subjects.

Furthermore, the participants discussed agricultural education in high schools based on the report of the project team's recent visits to agricultural high schools (model schools). The participants recognized the importance of teacher education to increase professional and pedagogically skilled teachers, and updating teaching contents for qualified agricultural education. In response to such recommendation, participants from DepEd mentioned that they would discuss these issues with the Department of Agriculture. Participants also agreed that it was essential for teachers to enhance their knowledge and skills through such opportunities as in-service training and industry visit (commonly called "industrial immersion").