213,480 participate in career guidance, employment coaching

A June 10, 2011 press release by the Department of Labor and Employment

“As millions of students troop back to colleges and high school for SY 2011-2012, it is reassuring to note that more students and parents realize the importance of intensive career guidance to strengthen students’ options and lead them towards wiser career planning to match available opportunities in our industries when they graduate from college.”

This was the statement yesterday of Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Acting Secretary Danilo P. Cruz* after receiving a report of the Bureau of Local Employment (BLE) showing that 213,480 students in the tertiary level, tech-voc schools, and secondary institutions, along with parents, have attended the DOLE’s career guidance and employment counseling sessions in 1,164 venues nationwide prior to their graduation last summer.

In her report, BLE Director Maria Criselda R. Sy said the conduct of the career guidance activities was facilitated by the DOLE Regional Offices (ROs), in coordination with the Public Employment Service Office (PESOs), and Guidance Counselors Network nationwide.

“I note the active cooperation of high schools, tech-voc institutions, colleges and universities, the PESOs, and local government units in these career guidance and employment counseling activities which resulted to more participants joining and benefitting from them,” Cruz said.

The labor and employment acting chief said that the conduct of the career guidance and employment counseling sessions is in consonance with the overarching goal of President Benigno S. Aquino III, in his 22-point labor and employment agenda, to invest in the country’s no. 1 resource, its human resource, and strengthen industrial peace in an atmosphere of social justice.

Cruz emphasized that better and more effective career guidance and employment counseling is strongly being pushed by the DOLE in the implementation of the DOLE’s Project JobsFit to enable students to make informed decisions about their career choices with the active participation of the stakeholders in the education and other sectors.

“Eventually, our goal is to make the best talents stay by reducing labor-job mismatch in the country, and through better labor market information (LMI), the intensified career guidance seminars would help ensure that students are being prepared towards effective careers prior to their graduation,” Cruz explained.

Trained guidance counselors and employment coaches facilitated the sessions nationwide, making use of the BLE’s new Career Guide for High School Students, as well as the Employment Guide for College Students and Jobseekers.

According to the BLE report, the highest number of participants in the career guidance and employment coaching activities had been recorded in Region 3 or Central Luzon (with 39,890 participants in 258 venues), Region 12 or SOCCSKSARGEN (34,352 in 118 venues), Region 2 or Cagayan Valley (20,546 in 125 venues), Region 5 or Bicol (14,676 in 81 venues), Region 8 or Eastern Visayas (13,004 in 110 venues), Region 4-B or MIMAROPA (12,405 in 93 venues), NCR (11,209 in 25 venues), Region 6 or Western Visayas (10,829 in 52 venues), Region 9 or Zamboanga Peninsula (10,511 in 42 venues), Region 4-A or CALABARZON (9,696 in 27 venues), Region 7 or Central Visayas (8,974 in 52 venues), Region 10 or Northern Mindanao (7,505 in 67 venues), Region 1 or Ilocos.