Project Milestones Report

PROJECT MILESTONES REPORT Metalworking Technology Cluster San Pedro Relocation Center National High School San Pedro, Laguna

K TO 12 PLUS JOURNEY In 2013, the Department of Education expanded the basic education cycle from 10 to 12 years. The reintroduction of technical vocational education in public Senior High Schools was envisioned to better prepare students for the world of work by linking schooling to local industry needs and therefore enhance work-readiness.

This is where the K to 12 PLUS Project came in – to build up on the newly signed Basic Enhanced Education Reform Act of 2013. Germany and the Philippines signed a joint declaration of intent in 2014 and pledged to work together to support the promotion of Dual Education and Training, practice-based education, in the Philippines, especially in the K to 12 Program of the Department of Education.

In 2015, the Department of Education and the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) formalized their partnership to collaborate and promote the delivery of Dual Education and Training in the Technical-Vocational Livelihood (TVL) track of Senior High School. Although the DET approach has been used by TESDA in their enterprise-based training since 1993, the K to 12 reform allows this delivery to be integrated in secondary education.

Furthering the business participation in this endeavor, the German-Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GPCCI) and the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry agreed to closely cooperate in the field of Dual Education and Training, where German chambers play an active role and can share their knowledge.

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PREPARATION Building the Foundation for Dual Education and Training To properly support the Department of Education with their promise to prepare students for the world of work, partner stakeholders were identified:

 The industry that can give information on their skills demand and provide training in their own companies  The schools that would be ready to pilot this innovative approach in the TVL track of Senior High School  The chambers that would foster the dialogue between the industry and the schools

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CLUSTER FORMATION In 2015, GPCCI partnered with the Metalworking Industry Associations of the Philippines (MIAP), the Philippine Die and Mold Association (PDMA) and San Pedro Relocation Center National High School, which was then, a pilot implementer of the government’s K to 12 program, to form the Metalworking Technology cluster in Laguna.

Through these partnerships, interested companies were engaged to participate in the discussions on industry-demanded skills, on how to implement those in the existing school curricula, and on how to teach them in the school and in the company.

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CURRICULUM ENHANCEMENT With the school, association and companies on board, a series of consultations were conducted to gather the skills demand of the industry and to discuss how these can be integrated in the schools ‘curriculum. With the commitment of San Pedro Relocation Center National High School, the curriculum for Metalworking Technology was enhanced.

One of the innovations the Project introduced was to increase the work immersion hours to give proper time to develop the practical skills defined in the curriculum.

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DET IMPLEMENTATION SUPPORT GPCCI, through the Project, engaged German Experts to further strengthen the application of DET in San Pedro Relocation Center National High School. Small suggestions, like the proper layout of a workshop and the use of the right tools can easily enrich the learning of the students. Equipment assistance was also given to ensure that the students are learning industry future-oriented skills where needed.

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TEACHER INDUSTRY IMMERSION A good teacher is the one who is a lifelong student. The Project endorsed teacher immersion in partner companies to better prepare teachers for their teaching role in their technical subjects. During their immersion, the teachers were able to experience a real work environment.

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IN-COMPANY TRAINER TRAINING During work immersion, the company becomes the extended classroom for the students. Companies take on the shared responsibility to ensure the safety of the students and also their learning progress. To help the companies develop their teaching skills in-house, the K to 12 PLUS Project promoted and conducted the In-Company Trainer’s Training.

This training provided the designated In-Company Trainers with the pedagogical skills needed to deliver learning content to the students and how to properly mentor, guide and supervise the students.

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DEVELOPMENT OF IN-COMPANY TRAINING PLAN The In-Company Training Plan is the key to a structured work immersion. To align the training tasks in the company with the learning objectives of the school curriculum, the Project introduced the In-Company Training Plan. Equipped with the knowledge from the In-Company Trainer’s Training, the trainers were supported to develop an In-Company Training Plan.

This tool guides the In-Company Trainer and the students on what skills to develop during the work immersion and how.

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WORK IMMERSION Pilot-testing the elements of Dual Education and Training

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PILOT BATCH The foundation for the implementation of Dual Education and Training has been laid. The pilot batch in Metalworking Technology cluster was now ready to undergo an enhanced curriculum and a structured work immersion in companies following an In-Company Training Plan.

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BRIEFING AND ORIENTATION To set the expectations of the students, parents, and companies and to get their commitment to follow through with the program, briefings and orientations were conducted. During these meetings, their roles and responsibilities were detailed and expectations leveled off.

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IMMERSION FAIR Immersion Fairs were conducted for the students to interact with representatives of immersion companies. This opened an opportunity for them to experience a job interview to learn the ropes of how to present themselves to their potential future employers. Beyond the learning opportunity for the students to practice real-world scenarios, the immersion fair also helped match the right companies with the right students by taking into consideration the distance between home and company, skills, attitude and the likes.

The right matching supported a smooth implementation of the project without any dropouts due to false expectations.

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COMPANY VISITS Before the start of the immersion, the students were able to see the shop floor of the companies up-close through company visits. This gave them a glimpse on what the work environment looks like and to better prepare them for their upcoming work immersion.

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ENDORSEMENT AND IMMERSION After all the preparations were completed, the students were endorsed to the InCompany Trainers of their immersion companies. This where they are expected to hone their existing capabilities and acquire new skills. The student gets to observe and learn from professionals in action and connect what they have learned in the classroom to real-world practices. This is an integral part of their learning where they can further enhance their employability.

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IMMERSION MONITORING With the goal to ensure that the students are learning in the company-setting and that they are being prepared for the world of work, regular monitoring sessions were conducted by the Industry Linkage Coordinator and the Immersion Teacher. Conducted mostly in the company, they looked into the learning progress by checking the InCompany Training Plan against the immersion logbook of the students. The logbook is where the students document the activities they have undertaken in the company and the competencies they have developed.

Immersion monitoring gathers other important lessons learned through dialogues with the In-Company Trainers and the students.

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EXIT TRIALOGUE At the end of the immersion, the Immersion Teacher initiated final assessments of the students’ performance with the In-Company Trainer. This is to determine the extent by which the students have attained their learning goal as indicated in the In-Company Training Plan and to gather the students’ and companies’ insights from the immersion.

This proved to be a good practice during the pilot as it allowed the school or the company to evaluate their practices and see what they can still improve on.

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ASSESSMENT AND CERTIFICATION A proof of the students’ skills and abilities provide them with a competitive edge when entering the workforce. To assess their practical skills, students underwent TESDA’s (Technical Education and Skills Development Authority) National Certificate assessment.

In addition, the Project introduced the Basic Qualification Certificate assessment, issued by local chambers of commerce and industry associations, to assess and certify graduates’ work-readiness. The Basic Qualification Certificate assessment combines oral questioning and portfolio review. The portfolio includes the TESDA NC, completed logbooks, company evaluation and certificate of immersion attendance. The assessment is conducted by trained assessors from the industry. Around 40 were trained under the Project. By doing so, the Project introduced the idea of an industry assessment of acquired skills – as it is done in the German Dual Education and Training system.

The DET graduates have graduated and now ready to face the world of work, with industry experience, TESDA NC and Basic Qualification Certificate under their belt.

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SUSTAINABILITY Initiatives undertaken to localize Dual Education and Training in Senior High School

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CLUSTER EVALUATION Inputs were gathered from all relevant stakeholders of the Metalworking Technology cluster – companies, school, students and project stakeholders – to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the work immersion piloted with the first batch of students. Areas for improvement were identified which were implemented in the succeeding batches of Senior High School students.

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PROJECT EVALUATION While the different clusters conducted their individual assessments, the overall project was assessed by an external auditor to help identify lessons learned and to support the standardization of processes for sustainability.

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PROCESS STANDARDIZATION Stemming from various assessments and stakeholder feedback it was noted that there was a need for clearly defined mechanics for the work immersion under Dual Education and Training. The project partners and their stakeholders from the school and private sectors worked together to develop one single guidebook. This resulted to the now published, Industry Immersion Guidebook (IIG). This IIG is a compilation of the experiences and best practices of all the Kto12 PLUS Project partners.

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DET ORIENTATION & WORKSHOP With the DET mechanics and stakeholders’ roles and responsibilities documented in a guidebook, the Project was in a position to roll out the concept to the rest of the TVL specializations in San Pedro Relocation Center National High School. A DET Orientation was conducted to 70 TVL teachers of Junior and Senior High School to raise awareness of the benefits of DET. Consequently, to replicate and sustain the gains of the Kto12 PLUS Project within San Pedro Relocation Center National High School, GPCCI conducted a workshop on the Dual Education and Training to 35 TVL teachers representing 11 TVL specializations. They were trained on how to use the Industry Immersion Guidebook and corresponding tools to help their current work immersion practices where applicable.

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DET INSTITUTIONALIZATION Many elements of the DET approach have worked towards the employability of the students in Metalworking Technology cluster and the Project has been working on the institutionalization of these elements in its partner schools. Reporting of the project activities were submitted to Department of Education Division Office of Laguna and best practices of San Pedro Relocation Center National High School were shared among their teachers.

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POLICY RECOMMENDATION The project envisions that successful elements of Dual Education and Training – such as

localizing the curriculum to include industry-demanded skills, trained In-Company Trainers in immersion companies, the use of training plans and logbooks – be replicated and endorsed by the Department of Education in many more schools. Meetings with the representatives from the Regional and Central offices of the Department of Education were conducted by GPCCI and PCCI-HRDF to promote and report on the success stories and factors of DET.

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Personal journeys and the lessons learned

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TESTIMONIALS Every graduate has an individual story to tell, depending on their career choices. Some are now employed, other proceeded to higher education. In either case, the skills and knowledge they have acquired following a DET approach will surely have a lasting positive impact on their chances of employability.

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Through piloting innovative Dual Education and Training approaches in Senior High School, with strong cooperation from the project stakeholders, the Project has identified the following success factors that contributed to the success of DET in the Metalworking Technology cluster:

An Enhanced Curriculum reflecting industry-required skills

Teacher Up-skilling which provides TVL teachers the opportunity to grow their skills preferably in a company setting

Trained In-Company Trainer who

Structured In-Company Training Plan

supervises, mentors and trains students

which spells out the learning objectives to be delivered in the company

Immersion Logbook which becomes a

Assessment and Certification which

learning tool for the student

gives graduates of DET Programs a competitive edge Page 28 of 29

The K to 12 PLUS Project is an initiative of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development to support the K to 12 Basic Education reform in the Philippines.

The K to 12 PLUS Project is a joint project of the AFOS Foundation for Entrepreneurial Development Cooperation (AFOS), the German-Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GPCCI), the Gesellschaft fĂźr Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the Savings Bank Foundation for International Cooperation (SBFIC), the sequa gGmbH, and the German Confederation of Skilled Crafts (ZDH).

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