IMPROVE TEACHER EDUCATION TO BOOST EMPLOYABILITY
OF JOB SEEKERS - ANGARA

Senator Edgardo J. Angara highlighted the need for improvements in teacher education in the country during a public hearing on Information and Communications Technology (ICT) education held at the Senate yesterday.

Angara, Chair of the Senate Committee on Science and Technology, made the statement in light of revelations that only 8 out of 100 applicants get hired in the IT-BPO industry.

"It is deplorable that a significant number of our graduates are unable to get meaningful jobs, due to a lack of core competencies. We've got to go back to the basics and look into the training our teachers," said Angara.

In a presentation during the public hearing, Benedict Hernandez of the Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP) said that despite the growing opportunity in the IT-BPO industry, talent supply remains thin in terms of both quantity and quality.

Hernandez outlined that the supply of graduates only grows by 3 percent per year, and only 5 to 8 percent of applicants are hireable.

In 2010, the Philippine IT-BPO industry earned an estimated $9-billion in total revenues. Employing 525,000 skilled workers and professionals, the industry garnered accolades as the top destination for BPO voice services last year.

Angara took note of a Gartner report referred to by Alejandro P. Melchor of IBM Philippines, Inc. showing that worldwide IT services spending totaled US$ 793 billion in 2010.

"The opportunities for employment and income generation in the outsourcing market are rife, but we've got to have sufficient and capable human capital in order to capitalize on them.

Our talent supply has reached a critical point, and it is clearly time to take a second look at our teaching standards. Teacher and teaching quality is at heart of the overall quality of education, which ultimately determines the quality of our professional and skilled manpower," said Angara.