Multiple burdens 130. Students and graduates experienced multiple burdens. Students had to juggle their school work with household chores and other errands. Youth participants shared that the workload felt heavier during the pandemic because not only did they have to multitask and attend synchronous online classes, but their teachers also required them to attend asynchronous learning. Even graduates such as TVET graduates from TESDA were concerned about getting sick, travel restrictions, increase in food prices, lack of work, shortage of food and medicine, paying utility bills and rent, and disruption of educational institutes, livelihood sources, and medical services.178 Hands-on activities/practicum were done virtually 131. Because hands-on activities, such as a practicum and work immersion, were done virtually, the learning experience for students became less immersive. Youth participants shared that hand-on activities and practicum, usually done face-to-face, had become virtual. For instance, a youth participant, who is an Agriculture student, related that for a class, they were to assist in pig farrowing, but since everything had become online, they simply watched their professor guide the hog to give birth when they should have manually assisted in the hog’s delivery. Moreover, the participant added that veterinary medicine students should have also been allowed to attend limited face-to-face classes like students in medical schools since they have laboratory work. Less internship/OJT opportunities 132. There were fewer opportunities for internships or OJT. Students had fewer opportunities for internship/OJT since face-to-face or physical reporting to the office was no longer required, and not all employers transitioned to online internship/OJT programs. Delays in taking the board exam 133. Employment of some graduates was delayed due to delays in taking the licensure exam. Due to the extended community quarantines in the country, the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), on September 16, 2020, posted an advisory postponing licensure examinations for several professions, such as architects, midwives, civil engineers, aeronautical engineers, geologists, criminologists, nurses, pharmacists, and dental hygienists, and rescheduled them in 2021.179 So for job positions that require licensure exams, some graduates were further delayed and had to wait longer to get employed because of the delay in taking the licensure exam. 178 TESDA, Study on the Employment of TVET Graduates (SETG), (2019). Professional Regulation Commission, Postponement of the Licensure Examinations for Various Boards and Resetting Them to 2021, available at https://www.prc.gov.ph/article/postponement-licensure-examinations-various-boards-andresetting-them-2021/4609 (last accessed June 24, 2022). 179 51