Exporting Filipino graduates to the global labor market: Its implications for Philippine higher education

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present the need for quality reform in the Philippine higher education “industry,” given the challenges of Government regulators on the one hand, and college degree holders on the other, in meeting international standards necessary to compete in the global labor market.

Design/methodology/approach

Aside from selected academic articles focusing on the interplay between Philippine higher education and the global market, interviews with key players validated and rounded off the findings and conclusions drawn.

Findings

The marketplace of higher education institutions today is driven largely by profit seeking, whose indiscriminate growth as an industry has brought into question the quality of educational offerings for students whose dream of working abroad for potentially higher incomes may be frustrated by their unpreparedness in meeting global job requirements, despite their academic training in higher education institutions.

Originality/value

This paper is one more call for the Commission on Higher Education and its accreditation partners to insist on enforcing international standards and best practices in education upon tertiary institutions of learning in the country, even if it means closure of programs or even schools. This requires political will.

Citation

Ordonez, R.M. (2012), "Exporting Filipino graduates to the global labor market: Its implications for Philippine higher education", Asian Education and Development Studies, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 43-56. https://doi.org/10.1108/20463161211194450