The population continues to grow rapidly and most schools are overcrowded. In the tertiary level, enrollment is high, whether in vocational schools or exclusive institutions of higher learning. Yet the country is running out of professionals needed for many aspects of national development, according to the Professional Regulation Commission.
The PRC reported that the country now lacks mining engineers, optometrists, guidance counselors, psychologists, medical technologists, social workers, pharmacists, nutritionists and dentists. PRC officials noted that enrollment in several of these courses plummeted as students flocked to nursing schools. In the case of mining engineering, enrollment has steadily fallen worldwide, PRC officials said, while in optometry, the addition of two more years in the course precipitated a drop in enrollment.
The courses that gained popularity were those that offered the best opportunities for employment overseas. For a while even physicians studied nursing to land jobs abroad. Shorter certificate courses for nursing aides and related programs were also popular.
These days, culinary schools have mushroomed as Filipinos learned that there are many job openings in the kitchens not only of hotels and restaurants overseas but also ships, hospitals and homes of the affluent. The courses, which could be as short as a few months, have taken away enrollment from dietetics and other nutrition-related courses.
Because of the continuing exodus for jobs overseas, the country is running out of not only professionals but also the skilled workers needed in many industries. While guidance counseling is provided in most learning institutions, the objective of the typical high school graduate is to pursue a course that will land a job with decent pay as quickly as possible upon graduation.
Public health care has suffered for years from the departure of doctors, nurses and other health professionals. Now that there is a glut of nurses, they cannot be absorbed by the country’s inadequate health system. Education has also suffered from the exodus of teachers. Earlier, it was reported that the country has an acute lack of weather forecasters and air traffic controllers.
Educators and concerned government agencies can coordinate to correct the situation, improving public awareness of skills that are in demand in the country. There won’t be a perfect match of demand and supply in the job market, but the gap can be narrowed and the country can produce the workers that it needs. -
