Tech-voc school seeks to stimulate the economy beyond the pandemic

Philstar.com

October 25, 2021 | 3:15 p.m.

MANILA, Philippines – “The ability of individuals to find employment and work opportunities is a key component of economic freedom,” the Washington DC-based Heritage Foundation said in its report released last March. “Economic freedom brings greater prosperity… healthier societies, cleaner environments, greater wealth per capita, human development, democracy and the eradication of poverty.

The 2021 Economic Freedom Index from the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in the United States, places the Philippines 73rd out of 178 markets, while the 2020 Human Freedom Index from the Cato Institute in the United States and Canada’s Fraser Institute ranks it 54th out of 162 countries in terms of economic freedom.

The picture is worsened by the economic crisis caused by the pandemic. The statistical authority reported that the country recorded an unemployment rate of 8.1% in July and an underemployment rate of 14.7%. This translates to an estimated 11.5 million workers unemployed or looking for extra income to make ends meet.

This concern is at the heart of a technical and vocational school which adapts the German work-study training system to the local scene. Since its creation, Dualtech training center had a vision to help reduce poverty in the country through education and training of workers for industry.

Economist Bernardo Villegas, now on Dualtech’s board of directors, said that “in the early 1970s some senior industry executives undergoing an executive training program at the Research and Communication Center saw that one of the most important contributions they could make to society was to train out-of-school youth and children from poor families so that they could engage in paid work, especially in the field of blue collar workers.

This dream came true in 1982 when engineers – all members of the Catholic prelature Opus Dei – and their colleagues in industry created Dualtech. It all started small in rented facilities in Makati. In 1991, the school moved to its permanent campus in Canlubang, south of Metro Manila.

The Dualtech system combines classroom sessions with training at the factories of partner companies that offer scholarships, as well as donations and grants. This classroom-based training framework addresses a decades-old need in the country’s education system to produce graduates with the skills required by industry.

In the Dualtech program, each person only needs 70,000 P to complete a two-year course, which includes accommodation. That’s about the price of a gaming laptop.

A typical course lasts 24 months. A pupil spends the first six months at school. Over the next 18 months, he spent one day at school and five days at the factory per week. In addition to professional training, Dualtech has a separate program to develop the human and social values ​​of students.

The students are either successful baccalaureate holders, industrial workers sent by their company to improve their skills, or supervisors who wish to improve their training and supervision skills.

The secondary school students are all scholarship recipients. In the Dualtech program, everyone only needs 70,000 P to complete a two-year course, which includes accommodation. That’s about the price of a gaming laptop. Graduates receive a degree in electromechanics and find immediate employment.

A Dualtech student undergoes factory training with a partner company before the pandemic.

Dualtech Executive Director Jerry Muhi noted that despite the pandemic, “there is still a high demand from companies which end up absorbing our factory interns as regular employees.”

Maria Shiela Lopez, director of human resources at Autodelta Parts and Services, said that “it’s not just the skill set, it’s the formation of values ​​that these students have. We are satisfied with the attitude, the behavior and also the resilience of these children. “

Meeting the challenges of the pandemic

Muhi said that despite the community’s quarantine limitations, the school has achieved a zero-layoff policy for its staff. “We’ve been hit, but I think it’s not as bad as the other schools. We were able to maintain all of our 32 employees. No one was made redundant. This was mandated by our board of directors.

The early stages of community blockades reduced the trainee population to around 100, from a regular enrollment of 1,200 to 1,300, “but now we are back to nearly 900 trainees and a hundred partner training companies.” , said Muhi.

Dualtech students in Canlubang, Laguna. TESDA allowed him to resume classes on site in November 2020.

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TESDA, or the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, which exercises regulatory oversight over Dualtech, authorized the school to resume classes on site in November last year.

“With adjustments in pedagogy, adjustments in the physical configuration and adjustments in the working methods with our partner companies, we have succeeded in continuing our programs,” said Muhi. “Everyone makes a point of complying with the regulations of the IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases), and things are working out. “

Dualtech continues with the online courses, which started in March 2020. “What we have done is allow students full access to our database of resources, which we have built over the years”, Muhi said. “Think of it as an electronic library. There, students can research and study on their own.

Throughout the confinement period, Dualtech accompanied its stranded students. Those who lived near the school received meals. First aid kits were delivered to those who lived further away. The others received cash assistance. This humanitarian operation cost the school some 9 million pesos, from individual donors and companies.

“The alumni have donated up to P 1 million for this cause,” noted Dualtech president Arnolfo Morfe. Some 600 graduates wanted to be “kuya” for stranded Dualtech students who came from areas like Agusan del Sur, Bataan, Bicol, Bohol and Basilan provinces.

Reynaldo Mendoza was one of these “kuyas”. He now works in a food processing company in South Korea. “I saw the post on social media of alumni of Dualtech seeking help for students who were still shaping their future,” he explained. “My message to the researchers now is that they are in the right place to have a good future, and of course, they will always have Dualtech alumni by their side. “

It is now

The government and the private sector expect economic conditions to return to pre-pandemic levels in the third quarter of 2022. Dualtech partner companies are now preparing for normalization of operations. Now is the time for the school to increase its student population.

Dualtech Executive Director Jerry Muhi said online students have full access to a database of resources, which we have built over the years. “Think of it as an electronic library. There, students can research and study on their own, ”he said.

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“We are looking forward to resuming our travels in the different provinces to raise awareness of Dualtech and its programs,” said Muhi.

He added: “We have many industrial zones and parks all over the country, and wherever they are ideally located, Dualtech should be present as an industrial partner. “

Dualtech has more than 100 partner companies where students are deployed for their on-the-job training. Among them: Suzuki, ICTSI, Unilab, Mondel? Z, Del Monte, Enchanted Kingdom, Toyota, Nutri-Asia and others in the manufacturing and maintenance sectors.

“It’s still not enough. We need more, ”Muhi said.