165. In the formal sector, the negative factors include wage most levels and common benefits, limited job choices, limited access to basic services, limited bargaining power of workers and perceived weakening of unions, and the increasing incidence of contractualization and flexibilization. 166. These difficulties are being addressed by the Government through several reform programs, including - (a) various protection programs and labor standards in the areas of labor contracting and labor flexibilization, anti-sexual harassment, safeguards against women discrimination and child abuse, programs for differently-abled persons and senior citizens, among others; (b) special programs for overseas contract workers which prioritize the protection of women workers in the so-called dirty, demanding and dangerous occupations; (c) shortterm measures which help alleviate the plight of landless and rural workers including the intensified implementation of the agrarian reform program, special skills development program, promotion of cooperatives among workers and protection programs for child workers; and (d) emergency employment, social safety nets and economic adjustments that cushion the negative impact of globalization and deregulation and other new economic programs aimed at stabilizing the economy in the medium competencies of the students would be useful in) career guidance and counseling to help parents and students decide in what course to pursue after high) school. 171. Existence of labor market demand-supply, mismatches. There are a large numbers of trained graduates who are left unemployed or underemployeg because they do not fit the requirements of the job market. It is quite ironic that a number of job vacancies could not be filled up because the available manpower supply would not fit the job, as confirmed by a graduate Tracer Study conducted by TESDA in 2002. Results show that employment rate of TVET graduates is rather low at 58.28 per cent for training center graduates, 67.73 per cent for TESDA schools and 57.6 per cent for private institutions. Likewise, employed graduates are not able to utilize the skills that they learned, as they are employed in jobs where they are not trained. Skill utilization rate was reported at 80.04 per cent and 77.46 per cent for graduates of training centers, TESDA schools and private TVET institutions, respectively. 172. Need for more responsive TVET investments, Investments in middle-level skills development has remained focused on direct training provision by national government, which delayed the longintended devolution to LGUs and private sector, To optimize the use of public investments, there is a need to realign TVET programs to focus only on and long term. Technical education programs with high market absorption rate, 167. TVET is faced with several challenges that need careful scrutiny and attention. Some of the issues that the sector must look into include the following: on Among 168. Social Bias against TVET. A 1991 report by the + There is a low cohort survival rate of students, which reflects on the educational qualification of * There is arising displacement of workers due to * The majority of technical-vocational institutions are in the urban areas which limits access of the majority of the clientele who are in the rural Congressional Commission on Education showed that societal bias and stigma had been attached to TVET. Filipino families aspire that their children finish college and view technical vocational 173. The country also faces a lot of issues that impinge education education. Filipinos view TVET as a “dead-end” where career usually stagnates and career growth is hampered by lack of the requisite educational and skills development. global and local factors; areas; and * qualifications. To counter this perception, a ladderized interface between TVET courses and college degrees to cater to the varying needs of students and promote upward academic mobility, education the major issues are as follows: the labor force; as only for the less academically inclined. 169. Absence of direct link between technicalvocational education and training and _ higher technical The problems relating to trainers’ capability, outdated curricula and inadequate budget continue to bear down on the quality of technical education and kill development provision. 170, Need for measuring the aptitude of the youth, 174. In view of the foregoing, TESDA pursues a threepronged direction to address the above-mentioned issues, viz: There is a need to guide high school graduates on what college courses to pursue after graduation. «- A survey that would 80 map out the capabilities and cure ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS HANDBOOK Global! Competitiveness - This addresses the skills requirements of export-oriented activities,