Microsoft PH Hopes to Upskill 5 Million DepEd Junior & Senior High Students Yearly

Microsoft Philippines is aiming to significantly raise the employability of senior high school graduates in the country. The firm collaborated with the Department of Education (DepEd) and Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) in an effort to achieve this goal.

On Monday, around 260,000 students and teachers took part in a recent online skills training event for free Microsoft Office 365, Microsoft Teams, and Minecraft Education. Training through Microsoft Learn, LinkedIn Learning, and Microsoft Imagine Academy were also conducted.

“Microsoft is committed to supporting the digital transformation journey of 23 million students and close to 900,000 teachers of the DepEd through technology and programs that promote digital literacy, STEM education, and skills advancement,” explained Microsoft Philippines public sector director Joanna Velez Rodriguez.

“More opportunities will open up for them after completing learning paths in digital productivity, computer science, cloud, artificial intelligence, and data science which are all aligned to in-demand technical and product skills and the most in-demand jobs globally,” said Education Undersecretary Alain Del B. Pascua.

According to findings by the Philippines Institute of Development Studies, around 20% of senior high school graduates immediately join the workforce. On the other hand, only 20% of the 70 leading companies in the Philippines expressed intentions of hiring senior high school graduates reports the Philippine Business for Education.

For the most part, senior high school graduates are perceived to not necessarily be work-ready. “This translates to considerable digital skills gaps for many graduates,” said Microsoft.

Microsoft hopes to widen the reach of its program to Grade 10 and 11 students to aid at least 5 million DepEd junior and senior high school students every year in terms of expanding and certifying their skills.

Source: Inquirer