Lack of career guidance programs and guidance counselors 113. Public schools and state universities lack career guidance programs. Youth participants who are students of private schools are fortunate to have career guidance programs even as early as Grade 7, but those from the public schools and state universities have none. One youth participant, who is about to enter senior high school, relates that because a career orientation that the participant had attended was done too quickly, the participant was not well informed before making a decision or choice of a career track. Furthermore, in their school, students are already in junior high school when they are oriented about the different programs and career tracks of senior high school when career guidance should have been given to students at Grade 10. The lack of guidance counselors can explain such circumstances because schools also have a hard time getting guidance counselors due to the low salary offered in public schools and the volume of students they must attend to. Youth Program/course and job matching 114. The program/course of graduates does not necessarily match available jobs. One youth participant, who is a Political Science graduate, expresses dismay after learning from a school event attended by various companies that employment opportunities for Political Science students in the private industry are few. Job matching is an issue since the available industry jobs are not related to the programs or courses the students have completed, making it harder for them to be employed. Limited internship/OJT options 115. Internship or On-the-Job Training (OJT) opportunities are limited. Student participants relate that oftentimes their preferred internship roles are not offered or unavailable by the employers who offer internship opportunities, so they end up not having a slot. Information on job opportunities 116. There is a lack of information on the various job opportunities and how to apply for them. Youth participants note a knowledge gap among young people on the kinds of jobs and roles available in the different industries and sectors, especially now that remote work is becoming a trend. Moreover, they also observe a lack of awareness on how to apply for jobs, particularly on permanent work, because they do not have sufficient information or they have difficulty finding information. So, they look for job and internship opportunities on their own. One youth student participant is interested in working in the government but does not know how or where to start because no representative from any government agency gave them or their school any information or guidance on the process of applying for a job in the government. 46