THE Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) said stronger participation by the private sector to address the skills gap identified by the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) in students who graduated during the pandemic.
“We call for greater private sector participation in training not only their own people but also potential employees to minimize the job-skills gap,” the PBEd said in a statement on Thursday.
“The CHR Human Rights Situation Report manifests the worsening learning crisis in the country, with students graduating lacking the basic skills, soft skills included, which are vital in joining the workforce,” the group added.
The CHR found that fresh graduates lack soft skills and job readiness, after examining the transition from school to work of students who went through the K to 12 program.
Soft skills were defined in the CHR report as involving empathy, creativity, resilience, and communication skills.
According to the PBEd, “the government must work closely with the private sector in order to come up with scalable policies and programs geared towards building a generation with higher learning outcomes that increase their chances towards obtaining gainful employment,” the PBEd said.
“Work-based training is an important intervention to ensure job readiness among the youth as it paves the way for the youth to acquire relevant skills needed in the workplace,” the group said.
“At the same time, the ongoing review of the education system by the Second Congressional Commission on Education will play a huge role in improving the quality of learning the students are getting prior to entering the workplace,” it added. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave
