EDUCATION, PPPs NEEDED TO SUSTAIN
BPO SECTOR GROWTH - ANGARA

Senator Edgardo J. Angara called on the government to fast track efforts to improve education in the country and increase support for the booming Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector of the country.

Angara, Chair of the Congressional Commission on Science Technology and Engineering (COMSTE) said that the education panel of the commission is in full support of an extended educational cycle, which many in the private sector see as an important step in keeping the local workforce competitive.

Recently, Angara called for the creation of a committee that will study and assess the K12 program.

Mr. Oscar Sanez, Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) CEO, recently released an industry roadmap entitled, "IT-BPO Road Map 2011-2016: Driving Global Leadership" indicating that the BPO sectors revenues will rise and workforce grow at an increased rate with the proper government support.

"The study found that the industry can grow from $9 billion in annual revenues and approximately 500,000 direct employees today to $20 billion and 900,000 employees by 2016 if current conditions are sustained and with a lot of hard work," said Mr. Sañez.

"But the study indicates that we can grow at an even faster rate and achieve $25 billion and 1.3 million employees by 2016 if we can significantly strengthen our Private-Public-Partnership with the government, and improve both the quantity and quality of our talent supply," he noted.

Mr. Sanez, who is also a member of COMSTE, indicated that that the BPO sector is moving away from voice services into fields such as such as IT, medical, legal, which demand quality personnel.

Angara expressed concern that if these types of jobs in the country are not filled by well trained and educated personnel, the country would lose its momentum in achieving a knowledge-based sector of the economy, creating a void in domestic growth.

Aside from ensuring quality workers by revamping the educational system, Mr. Sanez also presented some of the other priority issues that the BPO sector wants addressed in order to maintain the rapid growth of the industry and remain a the Top Offshoring Destination of the Year, as awarded by the National Outsourcing Association of the U.K, namely the strengthening of data privacy laws, the creation of a Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT), and the creation of a campaign to create global awareness of the Philippines as a center for BPO excellence.

Angara has filed a resolution to create a Congressional Oversight Committee on Education which is mandated to review and assess the performance of bodies in charge of taking care of the country's educational system, and study the implementation of a new, prolonged educational cycle.

"Our educational system has to adjust to modern technology and the challenges of the new century. We have to give our youth the tools they need to be able to maintain a high level of competitiveness in the global arena," said Angara.