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Status and Development Directions on Accreditation and Certification: The Case of Philippines Island |
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Country Profile
The Philippines is an archipelago composed of 7,107 islands with an area of 115,737 square miles spanning 1,143 miles from north to south and 688 miles from east to west. It is situated in the eastern rim of the Asiatic Mediterranean between the Pacific and Indian Oceans and between Australia and mainland Asia. It stretches from China to the north and the Indonesian archipelago to the south. Its northernmost islands are approximately 240 kilometers south of Taiwan, and the southsernmost islands are approximately 24 kilometers from the coast of Borneo.
The Philippines is divided into three major island groups: Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. It is geographically and culturally divided into 16 regions and 79 provinces.
Although Asia is dominated by Buddhism and Islam, the Philippines is predominantly a Christian country. About 85% of the people are members of the Roman Catholic Church; seven percent are followers of Islam, and the rest of the population account for other types of religion.
As of year 2000, the Philippine population was estimated to be 76.50 million, compared with 68.62 million in 1995 or an average growth rate of 2.36 percent per annum. Geographically, about 13% of the population 2000 lived in the National Capital Region, 43.0% scattered through out the rest of Luzon, 20.3% in the Visayas, and 23.7% in Mindanao. Statistics show a relatively young population with 36.2% belonging to the 0-14 years old group, while those in the 15-64 years old group, the economically active population, comprised about 61.0% of the total. During that census year 2000, there were 15.27 million families in the Philippines with an average size of 5 persons per family. Of the total number of families, 34.2% lived below the poverty threshold. This translated to some 31.28 million people falling under the poverty incidence level of 40.0 percent.
The Philippine population is projected to reach 84.2 million in 2005, and under this backdrop of high poverty incidence and a growing population, the Philippines government is taking deliberate steps to enhance the quality of its middle-level manpower by empowering its workforce through technical education and training.
1.2 The Philippine Education System
The Philippines education system includes formal and non-formal delivery streams. Compared to the other Asian countries, that of the Philippines differs in a number of ways. Basic education in the Philippines is only 10 years as against 12 in other countries. It is closely related to the American system of formal education in contrast to its Asian neighbors which are influenced by the English, French or Dutch system. The Philippines, too, is using a bilingual medium of instruction wherein certain subjects are taught in English and the rest in the national language which is Pilipino.
Technical education and skills development in the Philippines came as an offshoot of the passage of two laws in Congress, in 1994, namely: 1) Republic Act No. 7722 creating the Commission on Higher Education (CHED); and, 2) Republic Act No. 7798 creating the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). This left the then monolithic Department of Education, Culture, and Sports (DECS) to concentrate only in the administration, supervision and regulation of basic education, and is now known as Department of Basic Education, or DepEd, for short. This development gave rise to the trifocalization of education (so-called, because three (3) government agencies are overseeing the country's entire education system). DepEd covers elementary and high school education, CHED covers tertiary education and TESDA covers the middle-level technical education and training.
DepEd is a department headed by the Secretary of Education; CHED is an agency attached to the Office of the President and is headed by a Chairperson; while TESDA is an agency attached to the Department of Labor and Employment, with a Director General acting as Chief Executive Officer. A National Council for Education alternately chaired by the three agency heads, serves as integrating body to harmonize the initiatives undertaken for the Philippine education sector.
In the trifocalized education structure of the Philippines, DepEd accounts for 61.7percent of the enrollment; the CHED 8.7percent and TESDA 29.7percent.
1.3 Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET)
As the government agency overseeing technical education and skills development, to the TESDA falls the responsibility of administering, supervising, and regulating TVET in the country. TVET is essentially education and training for work, either in wage-employment or self-employment, and as such, it cuts across a wide variety of clientele, as follows:
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Graduates from secondary education who would not pursue degree courses in higher education;
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School-leavers from secondary education;
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School-leavers from tertiary education;
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Graduates of degree courses who would like to acquire specific employable skills;
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Employed and unemployed workers who would like to upgrade their skills and/or
retrain for another skill; and
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Instructors/trainers in technical- vocational institutions, industries and communities. |
The TVET delivery system is comprised of a wide variety of institutions both in the public and private sectors classified into two major groups: the school-based and the non-school- based. The school-based providers consist of technical-vocational institutions (TVIs) offering 1 -3 year post-secondary, non-degree courses and higher education institutions (HEIs) that also include non-degree courses among their program offerings. As of June 2002, there were 1,677 school-based providers, of which 932 were TVIs and 745 were HEIs. Private school-based providers accounted for 83.7% among the TVIs and 82.6% among the HEIs. The public HEIs are state universities and colleges (SUCs) whose TVET programs are not under TESDA's jurisdiction. As such, they may or may not register their TVET program offerings with TESDA because they have their own charter. As of SY 2000-2001, total enrollment of school-based programs was 286,316 of which 229,161 (80.0%) were post-secondary, 48,480 (16.9%) short courses and 8,675 (3.0%) extension courses. Of the total enrollment, about 60% were male and 40% female.
The non-school-based TVET providers are composed of training centers of industries, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), Local Government Units (LGUs), national government agencies, religious organizations, and TESDA's regional and provincial training centers. In 2001, there were 1,420 non-school-based TVET providers of which 481 or 33.9% were private and 939 or 66.1% were public. The course offerings varied widely with duration ranging from a few hours to several months but less than one year, and are held in four (4) types of venue: center-based, enterprise-based, dual/dualized (enterprise and school), and community-based. The total number of enrollment and graduates in 2001 from these non-school-based courses was 286,653 and 262,217, respectively, or a completion rate of 91.5%. The breakdown of graduates by training venue was as follows: center-based -31,366; enterprise-based -24,968; dual/dualized -3,093; community-based -202,790. The community-based training accounted for about 77.3% of the total graduates.
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STATUS OF NATIONAL ACCREDITATION SYSTEM IN THE COUNTRY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTION |
2.1 Overview of the Accreditation Process
Accreditation refers to the authority that is given to a school or technical education and training (TET) institution to offer certain programs. Accreditation can be a blanket accreditation that is given to a whole school. Or, it can be awarded to individual programs of study (a series of courses grouped around one discipline).
The concept of accreditation generally carries with it a review of performance, such that if performance reaches defined standards, the institution or program is granted accreditation standing. On the other hand, if the institution or program does not measure up to expectations, accreditation can be withheld, unless and until, corrective action is taken.
The Philippine system of accreditation assumes that there is a structure in place that has developed training activities based on identified training needs and on training standards that are to be met. The accreditation process occurs in two steps, namely: 1) submission of letter of intent backed-up by an internal self-assessment of compliance to prescribed minimum government requirements; and, 2) an external verification that includes site visitations.
The accreditation standing of a given institution conveys valuable information to the staff of the institution, its students, to employer groups, to members of the community and to system administrators.
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Status of the Philippine National Accreditation System: The Quality-Assured Philippine TESD Framework |
As a national agency created by law to reform the TVET sector, TESDA has propounded the Quality Assured Technical Education and Skills Development System in 1998.
The framework provides a snapshot of the inputs, throughputs, outputs and outcomes of technical education and training in the Philippines. The inputs are the secondary school pass-outs or post-secondary school leavers and workers. The throughputs are the various components of the Philippine TESD system, and the outcomes are: 1) enhanced worker productivity/income; 2) employment; and, 3) opportunities for higher education.
The system has the following key elements, namely: 1) industry consultation through the Technical Experts / Advisory Panels (TEPs/TAPs); 2) use of occupational competency standards; 3) use of duly promulgated training regulations; 4) unified TVET program registration; 6) TVET program accreditation; 5) competency assessment and certification; 7) competency-based training delivery; 8) recognition of prior learning (RPL), recognition of current competency (RCC) and equivalency.
The below framework situates the Philippine accreditation and certification system in one sequential development template. First, getting the industry to signify its competency standards; Second, translating these standards into minimum TVET requirements for curriculum, faculty, facilities, equipment/supplies, teaching and learning materials, and institutional assessment guides; Third, mandatory program registration with TESDA; Fourth, competency-based delivery of technical education and training services by the TET institution; Fifth, conferment of qualification to trainees demonstrating the competence; Sixth, assessment and certification of individual worker¡¯s competence; and, Seventh, voluntary program/ institutional accreditation.
Pre-defined conventions underpin the Philippine accreditation and certification system, and these are discussed in the following headings:
2.2.1 The Philippine TVET Qualification Framework (PTQF)
The PTQF defines the levels of qualifications in technical vocational education and training (TVET) in the Philippines. Under the PTQF, a qualification is defined as a set of knowledge, skills and attitudes acquired and applied by an individual in the performance of the job according to nationally promulgated standards. It provides for a clearer integration of learning and work experiences along middle level manpower skills and serves as basis for articulation of TVET programs across all TET providers and into higher education. The PTQF supports the flexible TVET qualification pathways through the recognition of prior learning element of the quality-assured TESDA framework.
At present, there are four (4) levels of qualifications in the Philippines, namely: National Competency (NC)-I, NC-II, NC-III, & NC-IV, with an additional diploma level of NC-V having been agreed upon for inclusion. The PTQF provides a narrative descriptor for the scope and complexity of job responsibilities and competencies in each of the qualification level.
2.2.2 The Unified TVET Program Registration and Certification
The unified TVET program registration and certification is TESDA's system of quality assurance through which TVET programs, delivered according to competency-based curricula across all modes of training provisions (i.e., formal school-based, non-formal-school-based, enterprise-based and community-based) are registered against the minimum requirements of the TESDA Board-approved Training Regulations. The training regulations are based on the requisites of competency standards coming from industry champions. A Compendium of Registered TVET Programs is nationally published and maintained in the TESDA website.
Within the Philippine education and training system, program registration is mandatory in that, no private or public TET provider may offer a TVET program and award certificates of qualification to its trainees unless prior government authorization has been secured in the form of an approved TESDA Certificate for TVET program registration.
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Program/Institutional Accreditation along the TESDA Quality Assurance Model |
Accreditation is the second stage of the TESDA Unified TVET Program Registration and Accreditation System (UTPRAS). It has for its platform, the Philippine TVET Quality Award (PTQA), which adopts the internationally-recognized Malcom Baldrige National Quality Award Education Criteria for Performance Excellence.
As shown in the Quality-Assured Philippine TESD Framework, the PTQA provides for four (4) levels of accreditation, namely: 1) Bronze; 2) Silver; 3) Gold; and 4) Platinum.
Institutions wanting to apply for accreditation under the Philippine system has to voluntary submit a Letter of Intent to TESDA, and to satisfy the following:
Reckoned as of the middle of 2004, the Philippine Accreditation System has achieved the following milestones: 1) Twenty-five (25) out of 44 applicant TESDA-administered schools and training centers have been granted the Bronze (or Commitment Level) accreditation; 2) TESDA is in the process of selecting the two hundred eight (208) private TVET institutions targeted for technical and financial assistance to enable their qualification for Bronze Level accreditation.
2.3 Development Directions : Adoption of the RMCS and the PQA Criteria
TESDA's legal mandate is to exercise national authority over the Philippine TVET sector, and through it, ensure: 1) sufficient provision of skilled worker and technician competencies that meet the need for businesses and enterprises to be globally competitive; and 2) access to quality TVET opportunities by as many Filipino learners and transform them into world-class workers with positive work values.
In keeping fealty to its mandate, TESDA is aware of, and makes purposive response to, such diverse challenges as: 1) changes in the work system; 2) globalizing requirements; 3) rapid technological innovation; and 4) access and equity considerations of a borderless economy.
It is on account of this realization that the Philippine accreditation and registration system for TVET programs and institutions is underpinned by two distinct disciplines, namely: 1) the use of the regional model of competency standards (RMCS) format of curriculum development; and 2) adapting to the Malcolm Baldrige Education Criteria in evaluating applications for Platinum accreditation of TEIs seeking recognition as Centers of TVET Excellence (Centex). Through the former, the country is aligning its training and certification standards with that recognized by other countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Through the latter, the universally recognized TQM discipline is injected in the TVET system and affords the TVET provider a chance for international accreditation.
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PRESSING PROBLEMS IN ACQUIRING INTERNATIONAL/REGIONAL ACCREDITATION AND CERTIFICATION |
From TESDA's 6-year experience in managing the local TVET sector, it became clear that any move to acquire international/regional accreditation and certification will have to contend with pressing problems that may be classified into three (3) contextual clusters. These are:
3.1 Cultural Differences
Some cultures are more predisposed toward quality than ours. The Philippine experience shows that even with the availing RMCS format and the Malcolm Baldrige Criteria as guide, very few technical education and training institutions have seriously worked for voluntary accreditation. As such, the effort to refine the accreditation procedures to render local practices comparable with the best, has been rather slow.
3.2 Unequal Access to Technology
In a developing country like the Philippines, where 80 percent of TVET provisions are supplied by the private sector, outdated technology operates like a deadweight in the collective journey towards worker excellence and productivity. What happens is that these private TVET providers would rather stick to the traditional mode of education and training rather than take on futuristic-oriented investments in anticipation of emerging labor market requirements in developed countries.
3.3 Unequal Access to Employment Opportunities
With only manual types, entry-level skills requirements availing in the labor market, there is not much room for encouraging TET institutions to invest in higher-level TVET programs. The TVET outputs of these institutions remain mired in low level productivity and high unemployment and underemployment. Coincidentally, the vicious cycle of poverty continues to haunt the economy of developing counties like the Philippines.
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RECOMMENDATIONS IN RELATION TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF ACCREDITATION AND CERTIFICATION BODY FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC REGION |
In light of the foregoing, this paper concludes that TESDA cannot rely on its own initiatives alone to gain international parity in the accreditation and certification arena. It, therefore, recommends for the immediate establishment of an accreditation and certification body for Asia and the Pacific Region to oversee the quality of design and conformance to accreditation/certification process requirements promoting:
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Comparability of workers qualification in the region;
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Common format of competency standards to facilitate comparability
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Regional records keeping of country Qualifications, Competency Standards and Assessment and Certification System
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A common criteria and procedure by which the level and quality of competence demonstrated by workers might be comparably gauged; and,
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Transparency in regional acknowledgment of training credentials |
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