PGMA cites PWU support to ladderized education

MANILA, March 4 (PNA) -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, saying that her administration has invested heavily in education, Wednesday recognized the support of the Philippine Women’s University (PWU) to her Ladderized Education Program (LEP).

In her visit to the oldest university for women in Asia, the President checked on the implementation of the LEP at the university’s Hotel and Restaurant Management (HRM) course.

“Congratulations PWU for being a pioneer in many educational endeavors… you are among the first among higher education institutions accredited to offer ladderized education,” she said.

The President stressed that the ladderized program opened pathways of opportunities for career progression to students and even workers.

The LEP allows students to progress between Technical - Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and College, and vice versa.

This is embodied in Executive Order 358 promulgated by the President on September 15, 2004, providing the mandate and legal framework for wider scale and accelerated implementation of Ladderized Education nationwide.

The President said her administration, through the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), has invested some P36.5 billion over nine years, benefiting some 11.5 million youth in tech-voc scholarships.

The President said scholarships and other educational programs were funded through revenues raised in the implementation of the EVAT.

She said she believes in investing heavily in the country’s education sector, because “it is the key to a better life. It opens minds and doors.”

Under the ladderized system of education, there are two ways by which a student can transfer or move between tech-voc and college education.

First is Credit Transfer for Tech-Voc to College and Articulation which refers to the recognition and carrying forward of overlapping learning from tech-voc to college.

A credit transfer system allows the tech-voc graduate to earn credit units for his tech-voc courses. Thus, the tech-voc graduate readily articulates to a college degree program with ease.

The second way is called Embedded Tech-Voc Qualification in Ladderized Degree Programs which refers to tech-voc contents that are already included in a college degree program.

Such contents are mapped out and identified, and the curriculum is restructured to allow a student of a Ladderized College degree program to earn tech-voc credits and qualifications without having to repeat the same tech-voc subjects for which he has already acquired knowledge and competence.

The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority or TESDA has provided some 150 scholarships to PWU worth P750,000 and was distributed to the different Occupational Areas of Hotel and Restaurant Services.

Several frameworks were considered as an articulation mechanism to ensure efficient and effective implementation of Executive order 358 at Philippine Women’s University (PWU).

These mechanisms establish equivalency pathways and access ramps for a ladderized system, allowing easier transition and progression between short-term courses developed by the Career Development and Continuing Education Center (CDCEC) of the university and degree courses offered at the tertiary level. (PNA)
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