Source :  Good Practice in Technical and Vocational Education Training, Asian Development Bank 2009.

Mountain Province General Comprehensive High School, Bontoc, Mountain Province

Vocational subjects are desirable on general education grounds, as part of a well-rounded education intended for everyone if they can be afforded and provided without detracting from efforts to improve quality in core subjects in the curriculum. But research has not borne out the labor market justification for such subjects. So far no study has shown that adding practical courses as a minor part of a student’s total curriculum (as much as one-third of the time) gives an advantage in finding work under severely depressed labor market conditions. Objections to the vocationalization of secondary education are as follows:

• Vocationalization is costly. Most vocationalization variants are more costly per student class period than mainstream general education subjects, primarily because of smaller classes and greater expense for facilities, equipment, and consumables. Unless a course can be taught to a full class of students (few can), operating costs will be more than twice those of non-laboratory academic subjects.

• Enrollment in some types of vocational courses is often strongly gender biased. The skills concerned are culturally identified with one gender only, for example domestic science and secretarial skills with girls, and industrial arts skills with boys.

• Vocationalization is hard to implement well. It requires specially trained instructors, preferably with actual work experience in the types of skills being taught. Teachers who have those qualifications are hard to recruit and retain. Vocationalization requires administratively complicated coordination of inputs.

• Finally, time spent on vocational skills training can detract from the teaching of basic academic skills, which are badly in need of improvement—also for labor market purposes.

For vocational skills development it is better to look to training centers that are specialized for such purposes, set up to respond to the labor market. Minor portions of a predominantly academic curriculum will not suffice.

“The vocational school fallacy (Foster 1965a): Changing from academic to vocational content in schools does not reduce unemployment (except for instructors). The same can be said for diversifying curricula at the secondary level to make graduates more “employable.”- Source :  Good Practice in Technical and Vocational Education Training, Asian Development Bank 2009.

Tech Talk
by Joel T. Fagsao

It seems that with every renewed hope for the Philippines to rise up, it gets itself into a mess. The unfortunate hostage taking incident got us a black eye, at a time when the Philippines seems to be gathering steam for lift off under a new administration then, boom, we’re back to square one. There are a lot of angles to look into; there are a lot of questions to ask, like why are the members of the SOCO (Scene of the Crime Operatives) able to smile in front of the bus where lives earlier on were snuffed? Why are students from nearby schools having their pictures taken near the crime scene-again in front of the tourist bus? Have we become calloused as a nation that we now look at tragic events as an ordinary occurrence everyday of our lives? There are a lot of lessons to learn from the tragedy. Nobody asked for this tragedy to happen, no country would have wanted this to happen to its visitors. The healing shall begin with a thorough investigation and shall bank on the government’s assurance that the investigation shall be quick and without whitewash. And so life goes on.

***
The Department of Labor recently launched a website for the benefit of the unemployed and underemployed. Again, technology comes to the fore as various media available to us such as mobile phones, the Internet are exploited to the fullest to serve our needs. And so eager to look at the contents of www.dole2917.com.ph, hoping to write something for the thousands of unemployed, I am directed to the domain name registry of the Philippines-meaning, the website is not yet registered (?) or not working at all. Job seekers might as well move on to the http://www.jobsdb.com.ph website to post your resume and hopefully receive an e-mail or call from a company that is in need of people to hire. And so life goes on.

***
How much does it really cost to educate a student in a public school (elementary, high school or college)? Well, do the math. Select a school as your base. Add the total salaries of teachers and other school staff members include other expenses such as utilities, maintenance of building and equipment, textbooks. The result could be mind boggling, better for the government to really widen the tax base and get more of tax collections to fund education. On the other hand, subsidies to private schools that perform well shall also be encouraged. Not all private schools are profitable, but still they are able to deliver. Private schools also provide employment and getting them into the loop of government assistance will encourage investments in education. At present, private high schools get tuition vouchers while private higher education and technical vocational schools also get tuition subsidies. Funding for research and teacher training programs shall also be made available to private institutions. To date we still have a mismatch in terms of what the industries need and the courses our students are enrolled in. And please let us not call students “scholars” when all they receive is P2,000.00 per semester inclusive of allowance, tuition, other fees. I look back to the days when government scholars were provided a monthly allowance, book allowance and full tuition payment. To be a scholar then at that time, you have to pass a qualifying exam, maintain a certain average and if you fail or your average falls below the limit, say goodbye to your scholarship. The Private Education Student Fund Assistance (PESFA) in its early implementation provided for a semester allowance, book allowance and tuition subsidy until the student who is enrolled in a private technical-vocational institution completes his or her education that ranges from 1 to 3 years. Today, because of a change in policy, all that a student gets is a tuition subsidy (competency based) that will only be good for a semester. Let us encourage our policy makers to reflect and return the “dignity” befitting that of a real government or state scholar. And so life goes on.

***

MS Office 2007 Tip: If you cannot find the command buttons or the ribbon in Microsoft Word 2007, it sure has been minimized. To get to display your command buttons point and right click on a blank space in your toolbar (containing the menus), right click and select Minimize Button. The ribbon (containing command buttons should display). And so life goes on as we continue to explore what else we can do to be productive in daily interactions with the computer.

***
In the coming issues, we explore a segment of the computer world –dominated by Windows (pirated or genuine). What is not known to many of us is that there are lots of variants in computer platforms and one of them is the Apple-Macintosh more popularly known as the Mac. It is my dream computer- it comes with its own operating system but it can also do Windows. So what’s so unique about the Mac? Find out very soon on Tech Talk. Meanwhile, let’s take a break, stop to smell the flowers, and so life goes on.

Xijen College is a Proud Partner Institution of the Program
by Agueda Ambasing

A free learning and earning scheme for youth volunteers of the Department of Labor dubbed “ Kabataan Information Technology Opportunities (K-Ito), has benefited 164 youth, teachers, barngay health workers, barangay officials  and twenty volunteer youth mentors in Mountain Province.  Marcial Pachingel, Labor and Employment Officer III of the DOLE’s Mountain Province Field Unit said that the successful implementation of the program has enabled computer illiterate participants to discover the benefits of information technology.  In the program’s scheme, IT-literate unemployed youth have been tapped to mentor  participants in computer operations and to learn how to use the Internet to access online government programs and services.  Participants from the barangays of Bontoc incluing Poblacion, Tocucan, Samoki, Bontoc Ili, Guina-ang, Talubin, Calutit and Antadao in Sagada, Lagawa in Bauko, Tue and Kayan in Tadian were tapped for the program.   It was a youth-mentoring- the- computer illiterates- program so that computer technology graduates from Xijen College of Mountain Province, Inc. and other schools were tapped to teach and earn at the same time.  Participants were required to complete a 22 hours training and the youth mentors earned a stipend on a per hour basis.

To  implement the program, Xijen College was tapped as the partner institution.  The college’s computer lab was the venue for a majority of the trainings.  Barangay halls were used as the training venue in Tadian and Bauko. 

The progam started in April 2010 and ended in the second week of June 2010.

By Joel T. Fagsao

Starting April 2010,  Xijen College of Mountain Province, Inc. will launch the Community IT (Information Technology) Center For Development (tentative name).  The aim of the center is to help address and narrow access to information gap in Mountain Province.   Access to appropriate and applicable information will hopefully improve the lot in life of farmers, micro and small business owners, service providers and other sectors of the community.  The mission of the center is to provide opportunities for people to explore applicable technologies that could be adapted for improved productivity and increased competencies.  “The right information for your needs”is the mantra of the center.  The center is equipped with Internet access, books and hard copy editions and will be manned by trained personnel and volunteer students who will readily assist those seeking applicable information.  For example, a Non-Government Organization wanting to find information on how to set up low cost sanitary latrines can be provided technical briefs that have already been tested and implemented in other countries.  Small and medium business owners can find access to improved manufacturing processes, marketing and managing small businesses, carrying out feasibility studies and access to new business ideas.  Farmers will also have opportunities to get information on improved crop production, adaptation to climate change, processing and preservation of crops.  For example, a simple technology that could help extend the shelf life vegetables could be adapted in our province.  The use of an evaporative cooling method using earthen jars for example, could make tomatoes have an extended shelf life of 20 days.  The center has set up ten networked computers with Internet access and is in the process of cataloguing information materials available on CD and printed copies.  Technical briefs have been provided by the Practical Action Organization, a UK based NGO that has operations in countries such as Nepal, Sudan, Bangladesh and others.   Information you can have at the center is comprehensive and varied.  This includes technology themes on agriculture, sanitation, crop and food processing, energy, natural resources management, small business management and more.  Technical briefs and manuals could be had and include topics on manufacturing and maintenance of a medical incinerator (How does your hospital dispose medical waste?),  Planning for Municipal Waste Management, Recycling Plastics:  Starting a Business, Recycling Used Lead Acid Batteries, Integrated Soil Fertility and the list could go on and on.  Xijen College has a radio time slot with Radyo ng Bayan every last Friday of the month from 9 A.M. to 10:00 A.M.  The radio time will also be used for the dissemination of technical briefs broadcast in the local dialect or Ilocano.  Radio broadcast is still the main source of information among far flung communities.  A lot of development is going on in preparation for the launch of the center and this is where I am excited about.  It has long been my dream to help enable access to information among the marginalized sector of society.  Teachers in the elementary and high school will also have information on lesson plans related to environmental topics, presentation materials and videos.  Some of the technical briefs on composting, green house gardening, water filtration system, food preservation will be tested at Lengsad, Bontoc.  In this way, farmers can directly observe and learn from such technologies.  The center will also develop databases and document indigenous agricultural practices.  The center advocates the preservation of ancient seed varieties of rice, corn and other local produce.  With bio engineered crop varieties being introduced in the country, our local varieties will soon be extinct.  Training on how to use the Internet will be offered for free to those who will sign up as regular clients of the center.  The center when launched will continue to explore and grow with the needs of the communities.  I will update you all with the developments of the center in this column in the near future.  If you have suggestions and comments about the center, send an email to joelfagsaoatyahoodotcom.

IMPRESSIONS GATHERED ABOUT THE XIJEN COLLEGE OF MOUNTAIN PROVINCE
From three English classes on September 24, 2008

The XIJEN College of Mountain Province now has a beautiful building of its own, located at Caluttit. Many of the students are proud and thankful for having such a beautiful building. Many said that it is like a boarding place. The rooms are spacious, well-ventilated and always kept clean. The facilities are all new and well-kept. The ratio of the computers to the students is not like in the MPSPC where it is 4-6 students to one computer. Here the ratio is one to one. The surroundings of the college is conducive to learning. There’s not much noise coming from the vehicles along the road unlike its former place at the Poblacion. Many said that even if they pay higher tuition fees here, it is worth it because of the very good service that they get.

The CEO is a man who is down to earth in his dealings with his staff members, the faculty members and even with the students. He even calls the students, clients not merely students. The Staff members are very approachable. They listen to the problems of the students and try to help solve their problems especially in their tuition fees and in the schedule of classes. Although the Staff members are approachable, the students don’t abuse them. The Staff members and the students still know where they stand. They Faculty members too are all doing their best in teaching the students. They are committed to their jobs.

Almost all the students in the three English classes said that XIJEN College will surely expand in the next few years. There were even some who said that this college will draw many students away from MPSPC even at the next semester and there after. Some said that it will become a university in the future. XIJEN is one of the best not only in Mountain Province but in the whole Cordillera.

There are no negative comments given except a few who said that there are some students who absent themselves without valid reasons.

Continue the good work XIJEN College of Mountain Province.

By: Mrs. Florence K. Chaokas

Last June 13, Xijen staff has to start preparing for the move to transfer at the new building at Upper Caluttit, Bontoc. The new school is supposed to be readied by June 16 but due to some instances, the start of classes resumed at main building so students have to make do with some opening day inconveniences.  Then on June 19, classes were suspended until Saturday for the staff to fix and prepare the rooms at the new building.

During the transfer from the rented classrooms from the early days of Xijen, it’s good that some students came to help in the move, carrying of computers and all the things for the office. Although there are still many more unfinished works on the building, students and staff entered on June 23 after attending an orientation last June 18.

After moving to the new building, it’s hard to make adjustments considering that everyday there’s always a schedule conflict either with rooms or time availability of students which has to be moved or solved.  The computers haven’t been fixed and IDs weren’t yet prepared. No wonder students started complaining on the changes of schedule and we have to give a meeting for concerned students regarding the conflicts and to apologize for the inconvenience caused by this problem.

After three weeks of our stay in this new building, there’s already an organized schedule and students have already adjusted to their new surroundings.  So welcome students and hope you’ll have a wonderful stay with us. God speed!

By: Maura L. Galaza

Building Careers, Building a Nation!

 Xijen College of Mountain Province, Inc. is a private tertiary school based in MountainProvince, Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines. The school offers short term courses  from Information Technology to Household Services and up to four year degree courses. Starting in 1992 as Xijen Institute of Technology, the school has moved on to be the alternative center of learning in Mountain Province. The school pioneered IT literacy in this part of the world. Students, office workers benefited a lot from the training programs that the school provided. “Computer to the Barrios” was also a pioneering initiative of the school. This was about the setting up of computer labs in barrion high schools- long before the government and NGOs came up with their own computer literacy programs. When the Internet was at its infancy stage in the country, Xijen was the first to avail of a satellite serviced Internet access. This helped narrow the digital divide in the province.

Today, Xijen’s graduates have gone on to set up their own internet shops, worked in schools and offices as computer maintenance technicians, provide administrative support to law offices, government agencies and the like. Trust Xijen to continue to provide innovative, quality education as it moves on to conquer new heights in the delivery of its services .