Outline of the Project

Title

Project for Supporting Senior High School (SHS) Program in Technical Vocational High Schools

Country

Philippines

Date of R/D Signed

30 September 2013

Project Site

Metro Manila and Cebu

Term of Cooperation

From February until June 2017

Implementing Organization

Technical-Vocational Unit, Bureau of Secondary Education, Department of Education

Background

The Government of the Philippines has made great efforts in improving its basic education. However the participation rate of secondary education still remains 64.83% (SY 2011-2012, NSO). Students' motivation to study will not go up because of limited access to quality education and fewer prospects for quality job opportunity.

The development of human resources to meet the industry needs is another challenge for the Government of the Philippines in the face of competition in the labor market among Asian countries. The graduates with the current 10-year basic education cycle are too young to legally join the labor force, and they have not mastered the necessary competencies.

In order to enhance quality of education and to facilitate the transition to the labor market, the Government of the Philippines is pursuing K to 12 year initiative that will expand the country's education cycle from 10 years to a globally comparable 12 years and re-introduction of technical vocational education to better link schooling to industry needs and employment in 2016.

Prior to 2016, Department of Education has developed the curriculum in cooperation with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and other stakeholders, and has implemented SHS Modeling to identify the fine-tuned Senior High School (SHS) program, and now reached its early implementation stage. In this context that JICA decided to assist in such a piloting effort and join in the thrust into the education reform of the Philippines.

To help contribute to the improved investment climate and increasing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), JICA entered into a loan agreement with the Government of the Philippines for the program called "Development Policy Support Program Loan - Investment Climate (DPSP-IC)". The Project is also expected to achieve the enhanced synergy with DPSP-IC.

Purpose

Overall goal
Activities, strategies and promising practices implemented in the SHS modeling will be shared to other Technical Vocational High Schools (TVHS) including the K to 12 modeling TVHS nationwide as a resource reference to develop/enhance their School Improvement Plans (SIP).

Project Purpose
A mechanism is developed for TVHS activities to ensure its effective implementation through collaboration with industries/firms including those from Japan.

Outputs

Output 1: Mismatches/gaps between capacities/competencies of graduates and industry needs are identified at the pilot TVHSs and addressed in their SIPs.

Output 2: Pilot Schools become able to collaborate with industry/firms (including Japanese firms) to improve school activities and to fill the identified gaps.

Output 3: SHS modeling TVHSs, other than the four (4) pilot schools, are informed of piloted activities/best practices for possible replication/adaptation/adoption.

[Project Activities to achieve Output 1]

1-1	Designate a person(s) from the school to identify industry gaps.
1-2	Interview industry with regard to job/skills requirements.
1-3	Address the identified gaps in the SIP.
1-4	Promote recruitment of graduates to potential employers.

[Project Activities to achieve Output 2]

2-1	Designate Industry Linkage Coordinator (ILC) to collaborate with the Japanese industries.
2-2	Develop a linkage mechanism through the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the schools and the Japanese industries/firms.
2-3	Conduct capacity building activities for school heads, teachers, ILC and career guidance counselors, etc.
2-4	Implement activities agreed between the industries and schools.
2-5	Monitor and evaluate the implementation of MOA between the school and the Japanese industries/firms./td>

[Project Activities to achieve Output 3]

3-1	Develop a strategic plan for adoption/implementation of the learning experiences and the best practices of the pilot schools to other TVHS.
3-2	Hold conferences to disseminate best practices.
3-3	Provide competitive grants to selected TVHS.
3-4	Monitor and evaluate the utilization of the grants to the beneficiary schools.

Input Summary

Input Summary by Japanese Side

• Experts (Chief adviser, Industrial linkage)
• Budget for the Project Activities
• Equipment and materials necessary for the implementation of the Project
• Counterpart training in Japan

Input Summary by Philippine Side

• Counterparts
• Office
• Others (local costs)