Dual training in the Philippines

Vocational education and training for young people in the Philippines has not previously taken place in a sufficiently practically related manner and has failed adequately to meet the requirements of trade and industry. The “K to 12 PLUS Project” aims to provide a remedy by creating dual vocational training structures.

Companies are a key stakeholder in dual vocational education and training, and the relationship between costs and benefits plays a major role in their decision whether to provide such training to young people. In June 2015, a second advisory workshop was staged in Bonn for BIBB’s Philippine partner institute, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and for the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) with a view to preparing and implementing a cost-benefits survey on the Philippines. Representatives of Philippine companies and the Dean of the University of the Philippines' School of Statistics also took part in the workshop.

The object of the deliberations was the preparation of a cost-benefits survey of dualised training programmes in the Philippines. The aim was to collect data regarding the costs and benefits of company-based training for the first time and thus persuade companies of the cost-effectiveness of their involvement in vocational education and training.

The research design for the survey drawn up by TESDA and the questionnaire for the company survey by BIBB experts from Division 2.3 Costs, Benefits, Financing and from Division 1.2 International Cooperation and Advisory Services/German Office for International Cooperation in Vocational Education and Training (GOVET) were subjected to discussion and underwent further development within the scope of the workshop. Issues relating to the implementation and execution of the survey were subsequently debated.

A preliminary workshop staged on the topic of costs and benefits in January 2015 had already been able to make an initial contribution in terms of improving the practical and requirements-oriented alignment of vocational education and training and facilitating the stronger integration of companies into the process of the implementation of work-based training contents.

BIBB has had an institutional cooperation agreement in place in the field of VET with the Philippine Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) since September 2014. As part of the “K to 12 PLUS Project on Dual Vocational Education and Training” – ‘K to 12 - Reform on the Philippines’, BIBB has been working on behalf of the development organisation sequa to provide guidance to TESDA and the PCCI since December 2014.

Participation in company-based training – a key factor and a benefit

From the point of view of BIBB, participation in company-based training is a key factor for the increasing of the economic performance power of a country by providing skilled workers and for the precisely tailored integration of young people into the labour market.

In order to convince companies of the cost-effectiveness of company-based training and to identify possible undesirable developments, the costs and benefits of such training need to be surveyed at regular intervals.

In Germany, about 20.7% of companies currently provide training to young people within the scope of the dual system of vocational education and training (BIBB Data Report 2015, p. 217). In 2012/2013, average gross costs per training year and trainee were €17,933.

This was set off by income from productive performance of the trainees in the amount of €12,535, meaning that 70% of gross costs were covered during training! After deducting income from gross costs, a company providing training incurred net costs in the amount of €5,398 per year and trainee.

These costs can also be further offset by offering permanent employment to trainees upon completion of training and thus saving expenditure on recruitment and induction when taking on new skilled workers. There is also compensation in the form of soft factors such as enhancement of image and a reduction in the risk of making the wrong appointments (BIBB Cost-Benefits Survey 2012/13).