Expanded Tertiary Education Equivalency and Accreditation Program as WIL
15th World Conference on Cooperative Education
June 26-29, 2007
Suntec International

President, The Philippine Women’s University, 1743 Taft Avenue, Malate, Manila, 1004 Philippines,

(632) 5213383, 632 5224002, abreyes@pwu.edu.ph

1743 Taft Avenue, Malate, Manila, 1004 Philippines, 632 5242612, enra_ph@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT

The Philippine Women’s University views Cooperative Education as a link between the classroom and the external world of work. There are collaborative partnerships with participating employers to ensure the quality of employer-student/work-integrated learning programs.

The PWU is strengthening its WIL programs through its participation in the state-initiated Dual Training System (Republic Act 7686) and, more recently, the Expanded Tertiary Education Equivalency and Accreditation Program (EO330). 

Strictly speaking, Cooperative Education provides students opportunities to validate classroom learnings in the workplace. The ETEEAP, on the other hand, provides that workers can be certified “after thorough evaluation, the pertinent work experiences and knowledge of expertise acquired by individuals from high-level, non-formal and informal training towards the awarding of an appropriate academic degree”. Deputized or accredited higher institutions conduct equivalency assessments, develop assessment instruments, and provide academic supplementation and/or award degrees within their area of competence and specialization.

To date, there are less than 100 deputized Centers of Excellence in the eight disciplines to implement the ETEEAP. However, only a total of twenty (20) applicants have been awarded accreditation and equivalency. There is not yet enough statistical data to gauge the success of the ETEEAP but some issues and concerns have been raised, prompting all stakeholders to work in closer collaboration.

Foremost of these issues is that which relates to acceptability to the employing sector of the degrees awarded through ETEEAP. There are also curricular and technical issues  such as what constitute critical competencies, appropriate modes of assessment, reliability and viability of instruments. These issues are currently being addressed through consultations with experts in the academe and industry.

We share the ETEEAP concept with you to stimulate discussion that would refine some areas of implementation.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Filipino families, like many others from developing countries. see education as a means to overcome poverty.  Economically, our educational system has turned into a “gap-widener” because of government’s failure to make education accessible to more marginalized sectors.  The economic and political elite are thus able to perpetuate themselves in a highly polarized society.  Education, rather than being the great equalizer it is meant to be, has turned into the exact opposite under the harsh realities we now face.

Despite the revolution in science and technology, particularly in Information Technology and in health and medicine, there remain invisible lines that divide the economic stakes of nations.  The problem is, access to technology is normally skewed toward the rich, because technology costs money.  The poor, meanwhile, get left even farther behind, in a phenomenon that is commonly called the “digital divide”.

The Philippines, like many developing countries, has rising unemployment/ underemployment rates.  Despite small economic gains, local industries are unable to absorb the workforce and yet the demand for skilled human resources is not met.  Thus, Filipino workers who cannot find employment at home seek work overseas in order to provide for the economic needs of their extended families.

On the other hand, the more progressive economies also experience the lack of properly trained skilled workers and professionals.  The demand for seafarers, construction workers, and engineers, teachers and health workers, particularly caregivers and nurses, continues to grow.

Thus, human resource development has become a global concern and no longer a national one alone.  Academic institutions, like the Philippine Women’s University, must ensure that our graduates would have the inner strength to work with minimal support from family and friends.  Moreover, we need to ensure that our alumni are equipped with global competencies and enter the global workforce prepared, competitive and in demand.  The human resources we “export” overseas must have the relevant knowledge and skills that mutually benefit the industry and themselves.

Governments and industry have come to realize that both students and employers must develop greater flexibility and broader skill sets fostered through experience.

COOPERATIVE EDUCATION IN THE PHILIPPINES

The Philippines, through the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and the Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC), has institutionalized Cooperative Education to a certain extent through programs and requirements for universities and other training institutions.

• On-the-job Training (OJT) or Practicum equivalent to 200-400 hours for non-science courses and 300-600 hours for science courses is part of the curriculum as required by the Commission on Higher Education.

• Internship is also required by the Professional Regulatory Commission before graduates could take Professional Board Examinations and earn their licenses to practice their professions.

• International Practicum Training Program (IPTP) is pursuant to the “Higher Education Act of 1994 (Republic Act No. 7722)”.  Under the supervision of the Commission  on Higher Education, IPTP makes possible the practicum training of undergraduate students in various companies, training institutions and organizations abroad.

• Dual Training System Act of 1994 (RA No. 7686) or DTS refers to an instructional delivery system of technical and vocational education and training that combine in-plant training and in-school training. Under this system, accredited educational institutions/ training centers and agricultural, industrial and business establishments share the responsibility of providing the trainee with the best possible job qualifications.

Under this Act, incentives in the form of tax credits are given to participating accredited establishments.  Despite tax deductions, however, not many industry players participate in the DTS.  Unfortunately, DTS has not provided the experiential training much needed by students who will soon join the workforce.  Industry has not appreciated the economic benefits of DTS and has largely regarded training of students as an extra burden.

• Expanded Tertiary Education Equivalency and Accredited Program (Executive Order 330), like the Dual Training System recognizes and institutionalizes that learning goes beyond the confines of the classroom.

The ETEEAP, as a Cooperative Education concept links the external world of work with the classroom.

ETEEAP AS WORK INTEGRATED LEARNING

Strictly speaking, Cooperative Education provides students opportunities to validate classroom learnings in the workplace.  The Expanded Tertiary Education Equivalency and Accreditation Program or ETEEAP, on the other hand, provides that workers can be certified “after a thorough evaluation, the pertinent work experience and knowledge acquired by individuals from high-level, non-formal and informal training towards the awarding of an appropriate academic degree” (EO 330).  The ETEEAP is envisioned to provide access and opportunities into the formal higher education system to deserving Filipinos who have had relevant prior experiential learning.  (ETEEAP Vision/ Mission)

In the context of a credential-conscious society such as the Philippines, the ETEEAP as an alternative education delivery mode is a response to the need to provide corrective justice to a disenfranchised section of the highly skilled labor force who up to now has been denied just value for themselves simply because they lack a diploma.  ETEEAP responds to the demand of industry employers for a more rationalized system of recognizing qualifications obtained from work-based training.

A college diploma represents the completion of a program of study from an academic institution whose curricula, at the very least, meets the standards set by the Commission on Higher Education and the Professional Regulatory Board.  Through ETEEAP, those who desire to obtain college diplomas to facilitate their professional advancement and greater social participation will have greater chances of earning one.

The ETEEAP is basically a means to accredit prior learning.  A team of experts from the academe, the industry, and the professional association evaluate competence of labor regardless of where such competence has been obtained.

Mona Dumlao Valisno, CHED Commissioner, clarifies thus: the question of how high level learning is going to be determined will be addressed by focusing on competence –knowledge, skills, attitudes and values that can be demonstrated by an individual candidate, and can be measured by an appropriate assessment instrument.

THE ETEEAP FRAMEWORK

One of the ETEEAP Resource Documents prepared by the Commission on Higher Education is the ETEEAP Framework which states that,

The accreditation and equivalency framework essentially builds on the objective of equating non-school based learning with the curriculum offered in colleges and universities and to establish a reliable methodology for its assessment.  Given this, the framework consists of a set of procedures that are consistent with known accreditation practices such as those adopted in the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

Catalino Rivera, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Commission on Higher Education, has summarized the tasks involved-

1. identification of learning, wherever and whenever this has taken place;

2. selection of that learning which is relevant to a desired outcome, e.g., a college degree;

3. demonstration of the validity and appropriateness of the selected learning;

4. matching learning outcomes to those stated within the progression framework of the desired outcome;

5. assessment of evidence against predetermined criteria to ensure the validity of the claimed competence; and

6. accreditation and assigning of equivalencies within the progression framework of the desired outcome.

IMPLEMENTATION DESIGN

The same ETEEAP Resource document prepared by Dr. Rivera describes the two concurrent phases in the implementation of ETEEAP, namely:

• the deputization of selected HEIs that will conduct accreditation and equivalency assessments and provide academic supplementation and/or award degrees within their area of competence or specialization; and

• the development of standards, creative and appropriate assessment modalities, on a continuing basis and in collaboration with the technical panels and other competent authorities.

The implementation of accreditation and equivalency is limited to selected deputized HEIs with proven track records—those that are recognized as Centers of Excellence or Development or those  that have attained Level II or Level III accreditation.

The deputized HEIs are given authority to accept applications, administer appropriate assessments, grant equivalent credits, provide academic supplementation for deficiencies, and award equivalent certificates and degrees.

Moreover, the deputized HEIs are expected to develop the management and assessment systems.

The PWU is proud to be one of the few deputized HEIs for Hotel and Restaurant Management courses. To date, there are less than 100 deputized HEIs in the eight disciplines to implement the ETEEAP.  [SPECIFY 8 DISCIPLINES]

The Commission on Higher Education is also engaged in the development of natural competency standards for each degree program or profession to serve as the basis on which accreditation and equivalency decisions will be made.  This phase includes not only the development of appropriate methodologies for assessment but also the development of assessment instruments. This is done in collaboration with deputized HEIs, accredited professional associations and the Professional Regulatory Commission, industry and labor.

The Commission on Higher Education, being responsible for the implementation of the ETEEAP, has issued Implementing Guidelines to ensure that standards of quality that are acceptable to employers and academe are consistent with international standards of practice of professions.

IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES

To date, there are less than 100 deputized HEIs to implement the ETEEAP.  However, only less than twenty (20) applicants have been awarded accreditation and equivalency. There is not yet enough statistical data to gauge the success of the program.

Just like any new, innovative undertaking such as the ETEEAP, concerns have been raised by some of the stakeholders, particularly by the Professional Regulatory Commission, industry and labor.  While we feel that we are all set to take on this initiative, the Commission on Higher Education cannot disregard the serious obstacles that all stakeholders have to contend with.

The major concerns include –

• Legislation on licensure examinations which require that only formal schools are the source of expertise.  This leaves no room for acquiring alternatives modes of acquiring expertise.

• HEI’s reservations in enthusiastically accepting the ETEEAP.  Warnings are raised regarding “learning values lost in deviating from the teacher-student interaction in the classroom.”

• Acceptability to the employing or hiring sector of the degrees awarded is another concern. Degrees granted through the program might not be regarded as equal to 4-5 years tertiary level work.

• Curriculum and technical issues include those that relate to “content, modes and duration of the assessment process, assessment instruments, and procedures.”

Such questions as the following are raised:

• What do we include? Knowledge and skills only? Should content include attitudes and values? Should we limit assessment to competencies required in the practice of professions?

• Who decides critical competencies? Is it the government? Academe? Workplace? Industry or profession?

• Are the assessment modes and instruments reliable? valid?

What to do?

Acknowledging the concerns that are being raised is a step towards ensuring that ETEEAP fulfills the promise of good things for those individuals who stand to benefit from it.  The issues brought up force all stakeholders to work in collaboration with each other.

The issue of acceptability is being addressed by advocating joint ownership of the program by the academe, the world of work and industry, and the profession. –.

We share with you the concept of the Expanded Tertiary Education Equivalency and Accreditation Program as a mode of work-integrated learning.  We hope that our sharing will stimulate discussion that would refine the concept and some areas of implementation.

References:

1. CHED Memorandum Order No. 21, series 1997.

2. ETEEAP Resource Documents, 2002.

3. Executive Order 330, May 1996.

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