CHED: Ph education at its lowest point

Philippine education has sunk to its "lowest point," Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Chairperson Shirley Agrupis warned yesterday.

- By BELLA CARIASO

"I talked with legislators... (they said), 'you are coming in a very fortunate or unfortunate season of the Marcos administration where education is at its lowest,' and when you talk of lowest, it all boils down to the kind of leadership we have," Agrupis said in a speech.

According to her, weak leadership has compounded the struggles of higher education institutions, pointing to the oversubscription of some programs, the lack of enrollees in others and what she described as the "mass rooming" of colleges and universities.

The mismatch between academic training and job requirements also remains evident, according to the CHED chief. Of the 25,000 students who attended job fairs, only 13 percent were hired, with most rejections attributed not to poor technical knowledge but to inadequate soft skills.