Ladderization of Tertiary Education Curriculum at the Philippine Women's University: Opportunity for Technical-Vocational Graduates
QS APPLE
QS 3rd Asia Pacific Professional Leaders in Education
July 11-13, 2007

by Dr. Amelou Benitez Reyes

President, The Philippine Women’s University – Manila and Quezon City campuses

Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs

ABSTRACT

The interfacing between Technical-Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and Higher Education in the Philippines was mandated by the government through Executive Order 358. This promotes increased options for TVET students in obtaining baccalaureate degrees utilizing the opportunities provided by the credit transfer or other forms of ladderized interface mechanism.

Several frameworks were considered as an articulation mechanism to ensure efficient and effective implementation of Executive order 358 at Philippine Women’s University (PWU). These mechanisms establish equivalency pathways and access ramps for a ladderized system, allowing easier transition and progression between short-term courses developed by the Career Development and Continuing Education Center (CDCEC) of the university and degree courses offered at the tertiary level.

The recognition and accreditation of competencies from the technical-vocational skills into higher education is done through the adoption of a ladderized Curriculum. The harmonization of CDCEC programs and higher education programs through a ladderized curriculum has established a clear credit transfer mechanism from a short-term degree to a bachelor’s degree. Figure 1 shows the progress from short-term course to a degree course using ETEEAP and Dual Training as equivalency pathways.

The institutionalization of the credit transfer program at the Philippine Women’s University has opened doors to new career opportunities for students, by giving recognition to their academic qualifications and skills standards.

I. Introduction

Greetings from the Philippine Women’s University. This year, we are proud to celebrate our 88^th year of existence as the first university for women in Asia founded by seven Asian women. In 1919, a group of far-sighted Filipino women founded the Philippine Women’s College, a non-sectarian school that prepared young girls for leadership and service—ready to assume multi-faceted roles in the establishment of the new republic, after the passage of Jones Law.

In 1932, thirteen years after its founding, the PWC was granted government recognition as a university. As a university, the university is credited with a record of several “firsts:” Pharmacy in 1924; a Graduate School in 1931; a Child Development Center and courses in Home Economics in 1938; the Philippine Conservatory of Music in 1939; the College of Music and Fine Arts in 1947; Nutrition, Food Science and Technology in 1952; and the introduction of Moral, Social and Civic Education (MSCED) program in all its curricula. The PWU was also the first university to grant a degree in Social Work (1951), as well as bachelor’s degrees in Elementary Education, Nutrition, and Food & Science Technology (1952).

Gearing toward its centenary, the Philippine Women’s University continues its vision in empowering men and women to be THE BEST THEY CAN BECOME in their quest for careers both locally and abroad, by molding students for useful citizenship through holistic education.

Over the past decades, we have produced more than sixty thousand graduates, now situated all over the world, enjoying different positions, former first ladies and senators; governors, mayors, business executives, entrepreneurs, presidents of various organizations, institutions and business entities.

II. The PWU’s Career Development and Continuing Education Center  and the Credit

Transfer Program

The Philippine Women’s University, in its 88-year-long service in nation-building, continues its legacy and commitment to create innovative approaches to education. One of these approaches is to increase educational accessibility to students.

The Multi-location program was created for students who are unable to go to Manila for quality skills training. This was later developed into the Career Development and Continuing Education Center (CDCEC), to cater to an increased demand for special courses on skills development and professional continuing education. The course offerings aligned to meet current and projected demands for competent skilled workers, with purposeful learning opportunities found both within and outside the formal academic system.

The CDCEC was established in 1978 to respond to the need for short-term vocational-technology courses that promote skills development and occupational proficiency. Currently, the CDCEC offers the following courses.

• One-year nursing aide

• Call Center Agent’s Course

• Certificate in Caregiver, National Certificate II

• Two-year Tourism Management Course

• Two-year Secretarial Administration Course

• Two-year Computer Program in Software Technology Course

• Two-year Hotel and Restaurant Management Course

• Medical Transcription Course

From the short term courses being offered by CDCEC, a credit transfer program is now being developed through the Expanded Tertiary Education Equivalency and Accreditation Program (ETEEAP) and Dual Training System (DTS) that will give access to students to enter an advanced program appropriate towards his/her gain of credited units, and eventually a bachelor’s degree. The recognition and accreditation of competencies from Technical-Vocational Skills into Higher Education is done through the adoption of a ladderized curriculum. The harmonization of CDCEC programs and Higher Education Programs through a ladderized curriculum has established a clear credit transfer mechanism from a short-term degree to a bachelor’s degree.

THE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Figure 1. The Concept of Equivalency and Credit Transfer at PWU

III. Pathways to Equivalency

A.  ETEEAP as Equivalency Pathway

The Expanded Tertiary Education Equivalency and Accreditation Program (ETEEAP) is an educational assessment scheme which recognizes knowledge, skills and prior learning obtained by individuals from non-formal and informal education experiences.

In the context of a credential-conscious society such as the Philippines, the ETEEAP as an equivalency pathway is a response to the need to provide highly-skilled personnel who have been denied their rightful claim to proper wages because they lack a bachelor’s degree.

Thus, ETEEAP responds to industry demands for a more rationalized system of recognizing qualifications obtained from work-based training. The Commission on Higher Education has deputized the Philippine Women’s University as an ETEEAP institution for its Hotel and Restaurant Management program in August 2006.

In the ETEEAP Resource document prepared by Catalino Rivera, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Commission on Higher Education, the PWU  as deputized HEI

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

• develop standards, creative and appropriate assessment modalities on a continuing basis, and in collaboration with 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 PWU has therefore been given authority to accept applications, administer appropriate assessments, grant equivalent credits, provide academic supplementation for deficiencies, and award equivalent certificates and degrees. Moreover, the university is expected to develop the management and assessment systems.

I describe to you the admission procedures of the ETEEAP Program

Figure 2. The Admission Procedures of the ETEEAP Program

In a nutshell, the ETEEAP requires the following

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

B. Dual Training System as Equivalency Pathway

To increase responsiveness and relevance to current industry needs, the Commission on Higher Education has set the goal of increasing the accessibility for learners to attain professional degrees that matches competency requirements.

The Dual Training System was thus institutionalized as an instructional delivery system in 1994 to strengthen manpower education and training in the field of technical and vocational education. This will combine in-plant training and in-school training based on a training plan collaboratively designed and implemented by an accredited dual system of agricultural, industrial, and business establishments.

The word "dual" refers to the two parties providing instruction; the concept "system" means that the two instructing parties do not operate independently of one another, but rather coordinate efforts at all levels of engagement.

Under the Dual Training System, establishments and educational institutions share the responsibility of providing the learner with the best possible job qualifications, the former essentially through practical training and the latter by securing an adequate level of specific general occupations-related theoretical instruction.

Under the implementing rules and regulations of the Philippine Dual Training System Act of 1994, both the educational institutions and the employers have to be accredited by what was then the Bureau of Technical and Vocational Education, now TESDA, for specific courses.

A Memorandum of Agreement establishes and formalizes the relationship between the duly accredited employing establishment and the duly accredited educational institution.

PWU took the risk of applying the DTS to one of its popular courses with business and industry, Hotel and Restaurant Management, a field of specialization in a 4-year baccalaureate course. The University remains to be the first and only institution of higher learning accredited by TESDA for DTS as an educational strategy.

Following is the Linkage Model for the Dual Training System:

The PWU recognizes the vital role that industry partners play in shaping hotel and restaurant management curricula. It takes into account the desired competencies that graduates have to have in the global workplace. In many instances professional requirements will include proficiencies in the aspects of front-office operations, housekeeping, stewarding, commercial baking, bar and mixology, food and beverage service.

A dialogue-consultation with the prospective partner covers the area of job titles, job descriptions, duties and responsibilities, as well as knowledge, attitude, skills and habits (KASH) they would jointly endeavor to promote. The University and the business establishment discussed and agreed on a training plan which defined the responsibilities of the University as well as the responsibilities of the employer establishment and that of the student within the purview of the DTS implementing rules and regulations.

The industry perspective here becomes invaluable to curriculum development and design. A curricular review of the HRM program, in collaboration/partnership with employers, ascertains the relevance of curricular content (in the context of the consumer establishments and societal needs) to prospective employers.

So theory (as provided by PWU faculty) and practice (industry experience) meld together become central to learning delivery under the Dual Training System. In real life, this was not an easy paradigm shift, but this particular University’s experience showed that it was possible and even measurable.

A University with a DTS program has to ensure that the totality of its mission and vision as an institution of higher learning concretely comes into play in this DTS partnership—in the case of PWU, its preoccupation with values formation and spirituality as a component of education. Hence, its choice of partnership considered the integrity of a given business or industry as an enterprise and as an employer.

Periodic consultation (Feedback and Evaluation) between the respective program coordinators of the University and the employer establishment constitute the continuing interactive partnership. For quality assurance, the experiences and results of this interactive partnership are periodically analyzed and incorporated into the on-going overall University curriculum development process. In this manner, the DTS experience filters into other curricular areas in the University not operating the DTS strategy.

As a result, of the University’s basic liberal arts foundation before professional practicum, some students under the DTS have been hired by the DTS accredited establishment directly for managerial posts upon graduation, e.g. as provincial branch managers of a food chain establishment. Normally those from Technical or Vocational Schools start with entry level jobs.

IV. Recommendations

A. Structures and Mechanism for Stronger Linkages

Much effort and resources have already been expended but much more is yet to be done. Perhaps to add mileage to PWU’s efforts, it will be best if the university establish structures and mechanism that will institutionalize stronger linkages for its dual training program.

First, the creation of a School-Industry Linkage Coordinating Council with representatives from the Commission on Higher Education, TESDA, Private and Government Universities and Colleges on one hand and Industry group like Personnel Management Association, Employer Confederation of the Phil. and Industry chambers like Semi Conductor and Electronic Industries, and Food and Hotel Industries in the Philippines on the other hand. This Coordinating council can be further extended across the Asian region, establishing a wider mileage, addressing the gap between standards and quality and supply and demand through dual training system....

Second, a Curriculum Review Board can be a mechanism by which relevance and emphasis of curriculum content can be ensured. By emphasis we will mean a system of determining differential emphasis on topics included in the curriculum. The panel thus prioritizes topics and determines time, faculty and other instructional resources, etc. 

B. ETEEAP across Borders

ETEEAP as a credit transfer mechanism in the BSHRM program of PWU has given full recognition to prior learning of the candidate under the TVET program. This has given opportunities for students to complete a bachelor’s program using this concept of the equivalency and credit transfer which PWU has adopted.

If the mobilizing force behind the concept of ETEEAP is to open pathways for opportunities—for career and education progression of students and workers in seamless, boundless and continuous learning environment—an institution by no means has to reengineer its structure, and refocus its orientation. For PWU, efforts to include linkages between other higher education institutions must extend well beyond local and regional collaborations. Educational organization like the Association of Southeast Asian Institutions of Higher Learning (ASAIHL) Association of Catholic Universities and Colleges in Asia (ACUCA) and other organizations in their efforts of fostering collaboration among member schools can scaffold institutional responsiveness along the areas of credit transfer namely: structural operations, admission scheme, curriculum and instructional delivery, assessment service providers and program connectivity. This will level the playing field among students across borders.  

V. Conclusion 

The process of equivalency as a system and process of mutual recognition of academic qualification has put the Philippine Women’s University forward as institution of higher learning.

As global trends continue to affect the technical education and skills development, the PWU recognizes its important role in continuously designing programs that develop global competencies to produce skilled workers who are ethical professionals.

The Dual Training System as equivalency pathway has established quality training among students, ensuring industry-based and updated training procedure, using a synchronized competency-based curriculum. It is a multi-skills enabler within companies as an approach in identifying skills requirements. For the PWU students, dual training system can ensure quality training with emphasis on ensuring that all training undertaken by BSHRM students meets the real need of the industry. 

References

DepED, CHED and TESDA.  Philippine National Qualification Framework Synthesis Report.  May 16, 2005.

Lasan, Dolores B.  The Dual Training System Act. Manila Bulletin, May 23, 2004

Colombo Plan Staff College. Re-Enquiry TET: Non Traditional Approaches that Worked.  Manila, 2001

Pablo, Ignacio S.  Dual Training System. Preferential Mode of Learning. 2005

Pablo, Ignacio S.  Benchmarking and Quality Assurance Mechanisms in HS Hotel and Restaurant Management.  2006

Laws and Promulgation

Executive Order No. 358 series of 2004

CHED Memorandum Order No. 30, series of 2006 – PS

R.A. 7796. “An Act Creating the Technical Education and Development Authority, Providing for Its Powers, Structure and for Other Purposes.”  Section 2.  Declaration of Policy.” 25 August 1994.

Top