MANILA, PHILIPPINES – Aligned with industry standards and in pursuit of achieving lifelong national development through specific training standards and qualifications, the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC / Commission) took part in the successful conduct of the Philippine Qualifications Framework - National Coordinating Council (PQF-NCC) Inter-agency Strategic Planning Workshop held last 27th and 28th of June 2024 at the Peninsula Manila, Makati City.
The workshop participants were heads, key officials, and representatives from various government agencies and stakeholders in the industry and education sectors. The two-day workshop commenced with welcome remarks from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and messages of support from the PRC, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and the former Secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd), and PQF-NCC Chair Vice President Sara Z. Duterte-Carpio. On behalf of the PRC Chairperson Charito A. Zamora, Assistant Commissioner L. Louis P. Valera presented the Honorable Chairperson’s message; wherein, PRC “pledges to contribute (the Commission’s) expertise, resources, and dedication to ensure the successful realization of the PQF's objectives” and that “through strong inter-agency cooperation, we can create a seamless and coherent qualifications framework that benefits all Filipinos.” The remaining workshops continued during Day 2, which involved a more cohesive and comprehensive discussion and presentation of strategic organization adjustments for successful implementation of action plans from respective working groups.
The dynamic participants include the Professional Regulatory Boards (PRBs) representing the seven (7) working groups; namely: Quality Assurance (QA), Qualifications Register (QR), Information and Guidelines (IG), International Alignment (IA), Pathways and Equivalencies (PE), Government-Industry-Economy (GIE), and Lifelong Learning (LL) as they collectively reviewed the achievements in implementing the PQF, identified the challenges, gathered valuable stakeholder insights on how to fully operationalize the PQF, and discussed a roadmap for the future of PQF. Messages were followed by presentations on the external and internal assessments of the PQF-NCC’s current context and the first two (2) sets of workshops focusing on every working group’s reflection and respective SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) Analysis using the tri-hat strategy approach.
After the successful presentations and synthesis of output from each working group, the proposed upcoming activities with corresponding timetables were laid out by TESDA, which serves as the PQF-NCC interim technical secretariat. Prior to the workshop conclusion, the participants were enlightened by the messages of commitment from the present stakeholders. The workshop was then wrapped up with the closing remarks from DepEd, in which the working groups were reminded to finalize their respective action plans for submission.
Considering that the PQF is a national system and a collaborative program involving the DepEd, TESDA, CHED, PRC, and DOLE, as well as private member representatives from the economic and industry sectors, and recognizing the activity as a significant endeavor and opportunity for these lead agencies to advance PQF implementation, the PRC, as the lead agency for International Alignment Working Group, is committed to initiating comparability and benchmarking activities of the PQF with other countries and regional/ international groupings. It shall ensure that the PH education and training systems paths leading to Filipino qualifications are transparent, comparable, and portable. Thus, this facilitates recognition not only of Filipino professionals but also of workers and learners both locally and internationally. This workshop was made possible in partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) - Philippines Partnership for Skills Innovation and Lifelong Learning (UPSKILL).
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