Ladderized education

Last week I wrote about the need to plan ahead for senior high schools or Grades 11 and 12, which will start in the school year 2016-2017.

The senior high schools will have different tracks, of which the technical/vocational one will be particularly important for families that may find it difficult to support their children through college, or whose children may not seem cut out for college professional courses.

I did receive some grumbling from friends who see the tech/voc track as discriminating against the poor, a kind of dead end that limits their potentials for moving upward economically.  But this form of “streaming” actually exists in many countries where the state has heavy subsidies of education. Precisely because of these heavy state subsidies, the educational systems in these countries have to be very selective about who gets to universities, which are almost all state institutions. In these countries, you can come from a very rich family but if you can’t pass a battery of exams from one stage to another, you just won’t get into college.

Our system is mixed, with many private educational institutions and extreme variations in the quality of education, all the way up to law, medical and nursing schools.  In this system, I think the senior high schools do offer a window of opportunity for improving access to practical educational programs, without closing the doors for universities.

The key to opening those doors is a ladderized system that allows people to finish a short course, go out and work, and then return for a more advanced course, perhaps even moving into a college degree.

My first exposure to this ladderized system was the University of the Philippines’ School of Health Sciences, where barangay-nominated scholars can study for two years to become a midwife, go back to serve their communities, then return to UP for another two years to get a degree in nursing.  After another stint of community service, they can then go back and get a degree in medicine.

Last year former UP education dean Dina Ocampo told me about Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) having a ladderized program to train office clerks in various skills, with the option of eventually getting a degree in business.

Early this week I once again stumbled on ladderized programs while trying to help a friend find a child-carer. I remembered some years back that Tesda (Technical Education and Skills Development Authority) had a “supermaid” program with an assortment of certificate courses, mainly with the overseas market in mind. I wrote about the program—which provided all kinds of skills from cooking to pet care—asking why we weren’t offering these skills in high schools, not because we want to produce more domestic helpers for export but because so many of the skills are essential for life.

Reskilling the deskilled

Some years back, when I began to help my mother with managing the household, I had to remind her not to be so harsh on household helpers.  She would complain about helpers not knowing how to cook, or fix a bed, or clean the toilet, and I’d tell her about the times I was working in rural communities where cooking basically entailed boiling, where houses were so tiny there wasn’t too much to clean, where there were no beds to fix since people slept on the floor, and where there were no toilets, period.

The situation was worsened through the years, with “culinary” skills reduced further to preparing instant noodles.  You have farmers’ children who don’t know a thing about farming, who dream of going to the city to work, but who will have no skills for gainful employment.

To get back to the main topic, I did end up in the Tesda website and was happy to learn that it is implementing many ladderized programs that are linked to college degrees.  Go to the Tesda website and click on “List of Institutions with Ladderized Programs” to download a nationwide list of colleges offering certificate courses that can lead to a college degree.

There were many—too many, if you ask me—schools offering certificate courses that can be used toward a college degree in “computer science” and “information technology.”  I’ll be frank and say I’m not too keen on these programs, having supported scholars in such programs who are now working as department store clerks.

I was most impressed with programs being offered at New Era College, which is run by the Iglesia ni Cristo.  For example, to get a bachelor of science degree in technology and livelihood education, there are several Tesda courses that can be used: housekeeping, household services, commercial cooking, baking/pastry, beauty care, and hairdressing.  (Yes, I sighed over the last two, and yet it seems there will never be an oversupply of beauty parlors: The poorest of the poor will go, even when there’s little money left, for a pedicure.)

Even more intriguing, New Era offers a degree program in mechanical engineering, with several ladderized courses: machining, automotive servicing, and welding.  For civil engineering, there’s carpentry, plumbing, and masonry.

I was also surprised to find Siena College in the list of institutions with ladderized programs.  I’ve written several times about my cynicism with hotel and restaurant management programs, having again seen too many students who go through four years of college but not find a job.

Siena’s ladderized program for a bachelor’s degree in hotel and restaurant management offers short alternatives along the way: commercial cooking, housekeeping, food and beverage services, bartending, and front office services.  It looks like if you have a certificate in one of these courses, you may be able to land a job, perhaps minimum-wage, but a way to earn some money and maybe save to go back to school for that elusive college degree.

Siena also has a BS Travel Management program with these certificate courses: travel services, commercial cooking, and tour guiding.

The Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Pasig’s nursing degree program has the following certificate courses in a ladderized program: caregiving, health care services, massage therapy, household services, and PC operations.

With senior high schools coming up in 2016, the challenge is to get innovative ladderized programs in place.  In the meantime, though, the existing ladderized programs already offer options.  Employers may want to consider supporting a household helper, or office staffer, through these certificate programs.  Besides having a better managed home or office, you open new life opportunities for them as well.

Forgetful

A postscript to my last column, “Aunts,” where I cited a tita, Hilda Sian Presbiterio, who recently passed away: I mentioned that a suitor had written the song “Hindi Kita Malilimutan” for her.  An alert reader pointed out that the song was written by Fr. Manoling Francisco. Oh no, I thought, I hope I didn’t get Father Manoling into trouble here.  The correct title of the song written for Tita Hilda was “Hindi Kita Malimot,” written by Josefino Cenizal.

(E-mail: mtan@inquirer.com.ph)