MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Nautical Training Center (PNTC) Colleges recently announced innovations in their curriculum, gearing towards higher employability rates for its students.

For instance, the new course BS in Accounting Technology (BSAcT) is being opened to meet the demands in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPOs) industry, which includes the call center industry, software development and animation, medical and legal transcription and finance, and accounting and logistics.

“When we say BPOs, usually, we just think of the call center industry. One growing industry is the accounting technology... Now this is a very emergent industry and it’s a course which is not ephemeral in nature,” Frederick Pios, PNTC vice president for corporate affairs, said in a media briefing.

Patterned after the industry of accounting technicians in United Kingdom and Australia,BSAcT is a course that covers bookkeeping and accounting functions in various industries. A four-year ladderized program, BSAcT gives its enrollees the option to either pursue their studies after the first two years of the program,  or work right after. After the second year, the student shall be issued a TESDA certification which will entitle him or her to take the examination to become a certified bookkeeper.

Bridging program

Atty. Hernani  Fabia, president of the PNTC, said they have also observed the growing population of underemployed Engineering graduates. A solution to this may be the bridging program that is sanctioned by the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd), specifically for BS Mechanical Engineering (BSME) and BS Electrical Engineering (BSEE) students and graduates.

 “The bridging program is different, but right now, we have one for maritime. Meaning, we have a very large deficit of marine officers, especially for engineering. This is why

CHEd coordinated with the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA), to offer a course wherein mechanical engineering or electrical engineering students can become marine engineers if they take additional required subjects,’’ Pios said.

If the student is enrolled in BSME and would like to take the bridging program, he will be required to take 13 more lecture units and two lab units, plus a six-month apprenticeship program. For BSEE students, they will be required to enroll for two more semesters and take up a six-month apprenticeship program.

“We know that we have a lot of marine engineers and electrical engineers who are employed in jobs which are actually not finished. So we’re giving them another avenue, where they can become overseas workers,” Fabia said.

PNTC started as a training center for the maritime department of the country.

Currently, PNTC has two campuses — the main campus in Dasmariñas, Cavite and a branch located in the heart of Intramuros, Manila. (Kenette Gelyn Cabotaje)