News and Updates
This isn't actually new. We've had ETEEAP since 1996. It's just not as well-known to the public, including myself, when a first heard about it a few years ago.
The huge difference is that it was just originally an Executive Order. Now it's officially a law.
Not really sure what the difference will be between the EO and the law as the IRR does not exist yet, but pretty sure this will legitimize ETEAAP even more. For more information on the law itself, here's an explainer by GMA.
The program is a great one, and as a huge advocate for alternative learning, I laud it. It'll help skilled and experienced high school graduates earn degrees without having to formally go to college anymore. For someone who's already deep into their career (ETEAAP requires at least 5 years of experience), attending college for a minimum of 4 years to earn a degree presents huge opportunity and financial risks, not to mention it's totally unnecessary.
Of course, this won't apply to all professions. No one should practice medicine without a degree and a professional license, for example. But for sectors like IT, this makes a lot of sense. Tech has no shortage of self-taught professionals who don't have college degrees, and this gives them an avenue to pursue the credential. I don't know why, but companies that require college degrees for hiring and promoting tech workers are still prevalent in the Philippines, even though the rest of the world is starting to rethink the value of colleges (see next articles below). ETEEAP will certainly help individuals who are exceptional but whose career growth is hindered by the lack of a college degree.
The college degree also opens a lot of opportunities abroad that require some sort of academic credential equivalency. And it allows people to start pursuing graduate studies in their fields too!
When I shared this news on my Facebook page, there were a couple of threatened college students who expressed their fear that ETEAAP will make the job market even harder. To them I say, not really. Let me emphasize that one of the primary requirements is at least 5 years experience, way past entry-level. Someone who just graduated college will hardly be any competition for them.
Besides, as I often say, stop relying on your college degree to get a job in tech. Work on your skills on top of your degree. The current economic environment has virtually eliminated companies that hire and train zero-skilled college graduates. Maybe things will get better when the global economy picks up again; today, however, that's the sad truth.
I've had quite a number of videos and posts giving my thoughts on this, and often I get scathing reactions from people. But the reality is unless academic institutions in the Philippines recognize that there's a huge problem, no long-term solution will be put forward.
So this WEF debate really is interesting to me. It gave me deep insights into how academics overseas are looking into the role colleges will play in the world in the next century. It's definitely a must-watch!
I found it particularly awesome to hear that they're also thinking about shifting the purpose of college from preparing students for the workforce to developing them as "virtuous" humans in society. It's a common question here by IT/CS students: what value do minor subjects like Rizal add to their IT/CS degrees? I think, fundamentally, the intention of these minor subjects is what the WEF debate mentioned as a way to teach students "HOW to think, not WHAT to think". This is going to be very crucial amidst the turmoil in global geopolitics and economy. Unfortunately, with how these subjects are taught in college, they have been reduced to mere requirements to a degree and looked upon with utter disdain. And, thus, the disconnect between the subject matter and the student.
There's a higher education crisis in the United States:
- 15% of U.S. colleges have closed or merged
- Only one-third of public believes in higher educationβs promise
- Peak demographics for high school graduates, with declining numbers ahead
- Elite institutions remain stable while middle-tier colleges struggle
- Approximately one college closing per week in recent times
If this is happening in advanced economies like the US, just imagine how this is going to affect emerging economies like the Philippines.
All the more that we need the academic institutions here to start evolving, and that alternative forms of learning be created and promoted for the benefit of students, or else...
While in the topic of alternative learning, kudos to DICT for their ongoing efforts to supplement the academe with a plethora of courses that can help Filipinos land opportunities in the tech and digital space, careers that didn't even exist a decade ago. You don't even have to have a college degree to take these courses!
Curious choice of "metaverse" here though, as they were actually just referring to remote workers like me. Lol.
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