Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Constitution Hills, Quezon City

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 5357

Introduced by the Representative Salvador B. Belaro, Jr.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

One of the grave problems plaguing the Philippine educational system, in
particular, and the country, in general is the “education gap”, the phenomenon
whereby around 600,000 graduates of our higher education institutions end up
being unemployed every year.

‘Among the reasons for the occurrence of such phenomenon is that our
college graduates do not match the requirements of industries here and abroad
and/or they are not provided with sufficient assistance and preparations so that
they could land jobs.

To address the education gap, it is necessary for us to adopt a school-to-
employment program or approach in higher education so that all efforts from
the time a student enters into a higher educational institution are all part of an
entire set of actions geared towards landing a college student a job here or
abroad upon his or her graduation. Alternatively, all such efforts may also be
directed towards a college graduate embarking upon entrepreneurship upon his
or her graduation.


Of late there is a resurgence of an “outcomes-based approach” in
pedagogy. Such an approach is only a portion of the school-to-employment
approach being proposed here as the latter is not only concerned about
curricular design but also with the provision of other services to the prospective
graduate as well as other assistance from other stakeholders so that the
prospective graduate will already be job-ready upon graduation, thereby
eliminating substantial amounts and time for training and re-tooling costs.

The undersigned representation ran during the last elections on the
platform that “Ang tunay na pag-asa ay nasa edukasyon”. He hopes that the
adoption of the instant bill will make it possible for many of our college
graduates to realize their dreams through education.

pe
SALVADOR B. BELARO JR.
Representative
1-Ang Edukasyon Party List


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Constitution Hills, Quezon City

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
____ Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO, 5857

Introduced by Representative Salvador B. Belaro, Jr.

AN ACT
IMPLEMENTING A SCHOOL-TO-EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM IN
HIGHER EDUCATION AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines
in Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Short Title. — This Act shall be known as the “School-To-
Employment Act of 2017”.

SEC. 2. Statement of Policies.

(a) It is the policy of the State to promote industrialization and full
employment through, among others, industries that make full and efficient use
of human and natural human resources, and which are competitive in both
domestic and foreign market, and that in pursuit of these goals, all sectors of the
economy and all regions of the country shall be given optimum opportunity to
develop.

(b) _ It is likewise the policy of the State to establish, maintain, and support a
complete, adequate, and integrated system of education relevant to the needs of
the people and society.


(c) It is likewise a State policy to account for regional and sectoral needs and
conditions and to encourage local planning in the development of educational
policies and programs.

SEC. 3. School-To-Employment Program in Higher Education- The
Commission on Higher Education (CHED) is hereby mandated to implement a
“School-To-Employment” Program in the performance of its tasks provided by
law. Such a mandate should include the followin;

(a) Offering of courses in all higher education institutions in the country
which are responsive to market needs in the Philippines, with due regard
to the needs of the various regions of the country and in other countries of
the world where there is a demand for Filipino manpower;

(b) Offering of courses in all higher education institutions in the country
which are in accordance with the country’s developmental goals and
protective of our national interest;

(c) Offering of courses in all higher education institutions in the country
which will promote entrepreneurship in the various regions of the
country;

(d)Determining the number of the aforementioned courses as well as their
proportion to each other, with due regard to the pertinent national
development plan;

(e)Instituting a system of providing scholarship grants, educational loans
and other forms of educational assistance that reflects the proportion
referred to in Sec. 3(e) above;

(f) Curricular design of the aforementioned courses, which should have as
their primary feature the employability of the graduate of such courses,
immediately upon graduation as such courses already include subjects
usefull and pertinent to the employment of such graduates in jobs targeted
even before graduation such as but not limited to practical trainings,
language requirement, orientation on the peculiarities of the targeted
industry for employment, computer and digital fluency skills, office
relations and management, basic marketing and press relations skills,
grooming, and other skills which will provide added value to the business
of the targeted employer or to the business targeted by the prospective
graduate in case he or she chooses to embark into entrepreneurship.

(g)Implementation and monitoring of the aforementioned course offerings
by all higher education institutions in the country;

(h) Conduct of regular consultations with the various industries in the various
regions of the country relating to all the aforementioned concerns;



(i) Provide a system of incentives to participating and/or cooperating
industries in the foregoing;

(j) Strengthen guidance counselling in higher education institutions which
should be directed, among others, towards the provision of proper
guidance to students in higher education institutions with respect to the
jobs they intend to get after graduation;

(k)Institutionalize the conduct of job fairs every year in every higher
education institution to assist prospective graduates in their job search as
well as to assist prospective employers of said prospective graduates;

(I) With respect to industries abroad where there is demand for Filipino
manpower, conduct of regular consultations with the said industries,
through the assistance of the Department of Labor and Employment,
Department of Foreign Affairs and the various embassies and/or
consulates in the Philippines of the countries where the said industries are
based;

(m) In the case of the language requirement in foreign industries,
facilitate the establishment of twinning arrangements between Philippine
higher education institutions and foreign higher education institutions for
the teaching of the required foreign language to Filipino students
intending to work in foreign countries, including the establishment of
pertinent faculty exchange and student exchange programs;

SEC. 4. The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is herein mandated
to provide the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) with all the necessary
data, as well as all the necessary assistance, that would enable the latter to
perform its aforementioned tasks, including data on the manpower requirement
of various industries in the various regions of the country as well as the
manpower requirement of various industries in foreign countries where there is
a demand for Filipino manpower.

SEC. 5. The National Development Authority (NEDA) is herein mandated to
provide the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) with all the necessary
data, as well as all the necessary assistance, that would enable the latter to
perform its aforementioned tasks, including data on courses that should be
offered to protect the national interest and to further national developmental
goals and their ideal distribution and proportion to other course offerings in the
various regions of the country.

SEC. 6. The Department of Foreign Affairs is herein mandated to provide the
Commission on Higher Education (CHED) with all the necessary assistance that


would enable the latter to perform its aforementioned tasks, with respect to
foreign entities, including foreign higher education institutions with respect to
twinning arrangements referred to in Sec. 3(m) above.

SEC. 7. Expenses that will be incurred by the participating or cooperating
employers in the regular consultations that will be conducted by the
Commission on Higher Education (CHED) referred to in Sec. 3(h) shall be
considered as deductible expenses within the contemplation of the National
Internal Revenue Code.

SEC.8. The Commission on Higher Education (CHED), in collaboration with
the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), Department of Labor
and Employment (DOLE), the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), and the
Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) shall be tasked to formulate the rules and
regulations necessary to implement this Act.

SEC. 9. The funds necessary to carry out the provision of this Act shall be
included in the General Appropriation Act of the year following its enactment
into law and thereafter.

SEC. 10. All laws, orders, issuances rules and regulations or parts thereof
inconsistent with any provisions of this Act are hereby repealed, modified or
amended accordingly.

SEC. 11. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved.