Learning losses
One of the much-talked-about topics between the academe and the industries that hire graduates from different colleges and universities is the lack of skills of the graduates needed by the various businesses.
A dean of one of the leading universities pointed out that the role of the academe is to produce graduates with entry-level skills which are not comparable to those who have already gained long years of work experience. Enhancing the skills of newly-hired employees is no longer the duty of the academe. From the time an employer decides to hire a fresh graduate, it is now the former’s duty to provide the necessary training to the employee to acquire business-specific skills.
Academic leaders emphasize that the gap between the skills of the graduates of colleges and universities and the skills needed by different businesses and organizations is only a perceived gap, perhaps brought about by a misunderstanding between the academe and the industries.
However, in terms of the skills of graduates who are the products of online or blended learning, academic leaders candidly admit the learning losses suffered by these graduates. This is where industry leaders need to exercise leniency in recruitment and, perhaps, increase their budgets for employee training.
The latest CHED Memorandum Order No. 16 aims to prevent further learning losses among students at the tertiary level. Unless there is approval from CHED, an HEI cannot offer its recognized degree programs in full distance learning delivery, including fully online modality. Tertiary institutions must implement either on-site learning or hybrid learning modality starting the next semester of this school year. HEIs that offer hybrid learning will be required to allot at least 50% of learning hours to on-site activities, while the rest may be offered through flexible learning modalities.
These recent developments show that we are slowly returning to the old normal. Students have indeed suffered from learning losses at the height of the pandemic. So, the marching order is to return to the old normal.
In our rush to return to the old normal, CHED wants to ban full-distance learning in favor of on-site learning. However, one question needs to be carefully addressed: Will the return to the old normal solve the deficiencies of our educational system? If it is going to be business as usual under the old normal, then the old ways of doing things are not a better normal.