Vice President Sara Duterte on Wednesday called on the business sector to consider hiring K-12 graduates.

The Vice President, who is also the Secretary of Education, said there is a disparity in the hiring preference of the labor sector which hugely requires high educational attainment.

Duterte was the keynote speaker of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s 48th Business Conference at the Manila Hotel.

“This is a comment from the CHED (Commission on Higher Education) that there is a diploma mentality in our country. Kailangan ba’ng graduate ng four years college ang mga ine-employ ng ating mga industries?” Duterte asked.

She also said the Department of Education is taking necessary steps to resolve gaps and produce quality K-12 graduates who are backed with skills and ready for employment.

“The Department of Education is already working on how to make our Grades 11-12 ready for work and are skilled-ready when they graduate from the K-12 program because the only mandatory education that is required is basic education — and that is kindergarten to grade 12,” Duterte said.

“So we hope that when we are finished with our task of making sure that our graduates, our grade 12 graduates, are ready. We hope to see the support of your sector in making sure that our grade 12 graduates are hired and employed by the industries that you participate in,” she added.

Duterte also cited the business sector’s integral role in revitalizing the country’s economy post-pandemic.

She said the efforts to strategise the country’s economic revival “complement government’s efforts to bring about growth and development across the country — and benefit all sectors, especially the underprivileged and those lacking economic opportunities, access to livelihood, and employment.”

The private sector, Duterte said, is not only a partner in ensuring a healthy economic dynamism, but also a counterpart of DepEd in developing learning resources for the benefit of the schoolchildren, teaching force, and the academic instructions.

“These days, I am happy to share that the private sector has once again come to our aid,” she said.

“These are in the form of classroom building construction, teacher training, school grants, student competitions and awards including robotics and ICT talent competitions, nutrition education, school supplies distribution, reading materials, school preparedness advocacy, security, and mental health resources,” she said.

OVP MEDIA