MANILA — Senior high school learners may enhance their work skills by joining the Quezon City government’s work immersion program.
This, as QC Mayor Herbert Bautista signed on February 23 an executive order supporting the institutionalization and implementation of the Senior High School (SHS) work immersion program in the city government.
Through Executive Order (EO) 1-2018, Bautista opened the doors of the city hall to SHS learners from Academic Year 2017-18 for work immersion.
The EO states that there is a need for school-industry partnerships which will provide schools the necessary expertise and venue for practical, on-the-job and enterprise-based training for SHS learners.
“Nakita ni Mayor ang pangagailangang ito at nag-utos siya na magkaroon ng immersion program para sa mga SHS graduates dito sa iba’t ibang departamento sa city hall (Mayor saw this need and ordered the creation of an immersion program for the SHS graduates in the different departments here at city hall),” QC Public Affairs and Information Services Supervising Officer Ramon Jose told Philippine News Agency (PNA) in an interview Friday.
Jose explained that the city hall departments and offices will accept SHS learners for work immersion with proper consideration to the academic or technical-vocational strands they have chosen.
Jose added that a Technical Working Group (TWG) will be formed to prepare an action plan to operationalize the working arrangements between the city government and the Department of Education Schools Division Office-Quezon City.
“Ongoing ang plan formulation, kung paano tatakbo ang immersion, ang problema kasi ay bago pa lang ang K to 12 program kaya ngayon pa lang din kami naghahanda (The plan formulation is ongoing, how the immersion is going to run, the problem is the K to 12 program is still new so we’re preparing just now as well),” he said.
The TWG will also be in-charge of implementing and supervising the program to ensure compliance with its guidelines and implementation of standards, protocols and regulations for the benefit of SHS learners.
“The immersion program is a two-way opportunity for the students and the offices. For the students they will learn, for the offices kapag may extra warm body mas magaan ang trabaho lalo na may tasks na pwede ipasa sa mga estudyante (there is extra warm body so the work would be lighter, especially there are tasks that can be assigned to the students),” Jose added.
The Department of Education implemented the K to12 Basic Education Reform Program that includes SHS by virtue of Republic Act 10533 or the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013.
One of the course requirements of SHS is the work immersion program to ensure that graduates have competencies to be ready for work, business or to proceed to college.