The Bureau of Local Employment (BLE), on behalf of the Department of Labor and Employment, participated in technical discussions called by the Senate Committee on Higher, Technical and Vocational Education on bills aimed at promoting and strengthening lifelong learning development in country. The meetings took place last 24 and 30 March 2022 via Cisco Webex Videoconferencing Platform. 

The BLE delegation was comprised of Ms. Grace A. Baldoza, Mr. Jill A. Borjal, and Ms. Alyssa Keith Miguel of the Bureau’s Labor Market Information, Research, and Career Guidance Advocacy Division.

The meeting’s primary agenda was the continuation of its series of deliberations on Senate Bill No. 2387 and House Bill No. 9004 which propose the development of a Lifelong Learning Development Framework (LLDF) that shall “describe and set standards for the development of action components and desirable success measures for the promotion and implementation of lifelong learning in cities, municipalities, and lifelong educational institutions”.

The Bureau, which represents the Department in the Philippine Qualifications Framework National Coordinating Council, expressed its support for the proposed bills recognizing how the COVID-19 pandemic has emphasized the importance of robust skills development and lifelong learning systems in order to protect workers from career disruptions and accelerate recovery from job losses. This is also in line with the aims of the Updated Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022 wherein lifelong learning is a priority strategy, particularly digital skills training.

Lifelong learning is underpinned by the mandates of major educational agencies involved in the PQF, namely the Department of Education, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, the Commission on Higher Education, and the Professional Regulation Commission. It is also the central mandate of Republic Act No. 10647, or the Ladderized Education Act, as well as the PQF Act “to support the development and maintenance of pathways and equivalencies that enable access to qualifications and to assist individuals to move easily and readily between the different education and training sectors and between these sectors and the labor market.”

The hearing was also attended by representatives from the PQF-NCC member agencies, the International Labour Organization, and key education and industry stakeholders.

 

END/30 March 2022