Initial results from the cost-benefits survey on the Philippines
The first results from a survey of the costs and benefits of company-based training on the Philippines were presented at the 3rd Regional Vocational Education and Training Conference in Laos and at a Stakeholder Workshop in Manila. They were met with considerable interest and were the object of controversial discussion. The final results are expected to be available in June 2016.
Initial results from a national survey of the costs and benefits of company-based training were presented in December 2015 within the scope of a Stakeholder Workshop in Manila and as part of the agenda at the 3rd Regional Vocational Education and Training Conference in Laos.
Indications are that the survey has been successful thus far. About 200 companies will have been interviewed by the end of the fieldwork phase of the survey, representing a coverage rate of just under 60 %. On average, each company trained 26 apprentices during the period from 1 July 2014 to 30 June 2015. The duration of company-based training within the Dualised Training System (DTS) / Dualised Training Programme (DTP) was between three and 18 months.
In order to gain a comprehensive picture of the training situation, institutions involved in the process (Technical Vocational Institutes - TVI) were interviewed alongside the companies providing training, and trainees themselves were also given a brief questionnaire.
The Stakeholder Workshop was conducted by BIBB’s partner institute, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). At the workshop, results were presented to around 70 stakeholders from various organisations. These included representatives from the TESDA regional offices, from TESDA Head Office, from the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), from the Don Bosco Training Centre and from the Dualtech Training Centre, corporate representatives from the Toyota Motor Philippines School of Technology and C.S. Garment, Inc. And school heads from Punlaan School and the National College of Science and Technology.
The results were received with great interest and became the object of controversial debate. The event succeeded in once more raising the degree of acceptance enjoyed by the project.
The results also attracted wide-ranging interest from international participants at the 3rd Regional Vocational Education and Training Conference on the topic of “Supporting AEC Integration through Inclusive and Labour Market Oriented TVET”, where they were presented at a break-out session addressing the theme of “TVET Governance / Financing TVET”.
The Philippine Government aims to use the K to 12 Reform to improve the quality of vocational education and training in the Philippines. The objective in future is for VET to be more closely aligned to the real demands of the workplace and to the requirements of the labour market in order to take equal account of the needs of modern trade and industry and of the (largely informally organised) SME sector. The reform process seeks to enhance vocational orientation and practical professional training for young people within the formal educational sector. The “K to 12 Plus Pilot Project on Dual Vocational Education and Training” aims to provide a remedy by creating dual vocational training structures. In addition to this, the Philippine Government is endeavouring to achieve greater integration of companies into the training process and striving to raise awareness of the cost-effectiveness of vocational education and training.
The final results are expected to be available in June 2016
Various preliminary workshops staged on the topic of costs and benefits in January, June and August 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 is supporting its Philippine partner institute, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), in the evaluation and interpretation of the results. Representatives from the Faculty of Statistics at the University of the Philippines and the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) in Manila also took part in the workshop. The German side was represented by BIBB experts from Division 2.3, Costs, Benefits, Financing, (Felix Wenzelmann) and from Division 1.2, International Cooperation and Advisory Services/German Office for International Cooperation in VET, (Michael Schwarz). The aims of the workshop were to check the calculations on costs and benefits and to conduct initial evaluations for the forthcoming events.
The objective of the cost-benefits survey is to convince Philippine companies of the cost-effectiveness of dualised training programmes. For companies, the relationship between costs and benefits plays a vital role in the decision of whether to offer training to young people.
BIBB cooperation agreement
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 Pilot 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.