Just recently, the Technical Education Skills Development Authority (TESDA) appointed the I.T. Foundation of the Philippines (ITFP) as the National Assessment Board for the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry.  TESDA is mandated by law to develop and upgrade the competence of the country's industry workers.  In pursuit of this mandate, TESDA has established the Philippine TVET (Technical Vocational Education Training) Qualification and Certification System (PTQCS) to expand and rationalize skills standardization, assessment and certification for middle-level manpower.  ITFP on the other hand is the umbrella organization for ICT in the country and is represented by the largest ICT associations in the Philippines.

Under the memorandum of aggreement just signed, the ITFP shall be responsible for developing training regulations, including qualifications, competency standards, training standards and assessment arrangements using the PTQCS format and procedures.  The ITFP shall also develop assessment tools and accredit assessment centers and competency assessors, subject to oversight and confirmation of TESDA.  All certifcation shall be issued by TESDA still.

Now, I don't know how big is the volume of workers and graduates requiring assessment and certification that TESDA needs the help of ITFP to do such task.  But regardless of how busy TESDA is, this to me is a welcome development.  Since we are talking about I.T. assessment, it should be done by the I.T industry no less.  The next question is: how will ITFP perform its new duty?  Will this really result in the development of world-class and highly skilled middle-level manpower that would eventually give the country its desired economic growth?

I think before this can even take-off, certain issues should be settled first. There is an ongoing discussion now between TESDA and the Commission on Higher Education Department (CHED) about accreditation.  Both TESDA and CHED have not settled the issue about whether the 2 year course subjects taken by a student be credited if in case the student decides to pursue a 4 year course.  An Executive Order (EO#385) was already issued last year to settle this but industry sources said to date, no implementing guidelines is available.

In a phone interview with ITFP President Mr. Amado "Jun" Malacaman Jr., he said that it's high time that the I.T. industry take part on the assessment and certification program.  Malacaman confided that the main objective of this initiative is to give the middle-level professionals
the chance to compete with the elite.  ITFP will assess not only the curriculum but the trainor as well.  We should start uplifting the quality of the trainors so that it may be passed on to the students said Malacaman.  The participation of ITFP in this exercise will help ensure that
what the students are learning is what the industry needs.  A long and overdue problem that has not been solve over the years.  If ITFP can be successful here, then we can have a security of knowledge for our students. 

I can safely say that in my opinion, ITFP is far more credible than TESDA when it comes to this task and I admire TESDA for realizing that.  But by accepting the new role, ITFP should be aware that the new role involves 2 sides: the academic angle and the competency angle.  The
challenge for ITFP is to determine exactly what the requirements of companies are and how it should be taught by schools.  Members of ITFP are industry practitioners and are highly technical, but teaching is a totally different field.  You may know I.T. but that does not guarantee that you can teach.  To make this work, industry experts and the academe
should come and work together to achieve its ultimate goal.

Certification is a more sensitive subject.  The debate whether certified professionals will have a better chance to land a better job than non-certified professionals is still up in the air.  Perhaps it is true in other countries, but in the Philippines I doubt it very much.  Not that companies don't want to hire certified professionals but they can't simply afford them.  Certified professionals demands a high price.  Except for certain areas of I.T. like security, networking, and database developers, most companies will hire non-certified professionals for non-critical areas of I.T.

Another consideration is can professionals afford the fees of certification?  Just to share with you my experience - to become a certified Microsoft Office Professional, you need to spend P4,000+ for each application.  P4K+ for Word, P4K+ for Excel and P4K+ for Powerpoint, and we are just talking about desktop applications here.  Can you imagine how much it will cost to be a certified security professional or a certified network engineer?  How many of our professionals can afford this?  And if they can, what is the assurance that they can recover their
investments?  Certification is like business, professionals will definitely consider their Return On Investment (ROI).  Not only should they deal with the certification fees, but they also have the review/training fees to worry about.  Which if I may say also cost a lot.

Malacaman was quick to assure me that the fees will be very affordable and is tailor fitted to their target market, without sacrificing quality.  ITFP will be appointing assessment and certification centers but all of them should adhere to the quality standards set by ITFP and TESDA including the prescribed fees. This are just some of the agreements of ITFP and TESDA which was represented by TESDA's Deputy Director General for Sectoral TVET Miss Milagros-Dawa Hernandez during the MOA signing.  Appointing assessment centers will also be critical, appoint centers based on qualifications and not by affiliations.  I have given Mr. Malacaman my two cents worth about the matter especially in the area of sustaining the quality of graduates even after their certification.  Malacaman agrees and said they will consider my suggestions. 

Lowering down the fees of certification will definitely be the biggest hurdle ITFP will face in convincing professionals to get certified.  Quality is next since ITFP is up against I.T. companies (Microsoft, Oracle, Cisco, SAP and more) who themselves offer certifications.  After
certification, the next challenge is to keep the professionals here in the Philippines.  What's the use of certification if the talents will go somewhere else to work?  Providing competitive job opportunities in the country will be key.  Malacaman said TESDA and ITFP will seek the help
of the business sector to prioritize hiring certified graduates.  Easier said than done Jun. Like what I told you, it doesn't always follow that certified professionals are better and more competent than non-certified professionals.  Remember that there is still the Experience factor
that should be considered here.  But it's a good strategy I must say.

ITFP is a credible association, but as a certifying body, it will all depend on their performance.  ITFP should exercise fairness and should go by the rules at all times.  Favoritisms, business gains and politics should not be entertained.  No special favors in other words.  Power
and control is blinding, more often abused.

Now that the I.T. component is somehow settled, CHED and TESDA should now work on the other areas of education like Math, Science and English.  Proficiency in those areas are needed and will be a great boost to the ITFP cause.  To be successful in I.T., one should also be good in other areas.  I.T. is not the be and end all of everything, and I am sure
CHED and TESDA knows this every well.  So get to work my friends.

Let me end by sharing with you a recent report released by Foote Partners LLC indicating that premium pay for noncertified applications development skills increased 17.6 percent in value in the twelve months ending October 1, 2005. Certified AD skills are up 13.2 percent in the same
period.  A worldwide statistics that ITFP and TESDA should consider.  I will talk about this report lengthly plus the most sought after IT jobs and skills this coming Wednesday (Nov. 23, 2005) under my TechNews101 Digital Citizens column.  So if you want to know what's "IN" in I.T., make sure you grab a copy of that issue - every issue actually.

Goodluck and congratulations to both TESDA, ITFP and to the soon-to-be certified graduates.

Am logging off.  Stay cool always and God Bless us all!!!

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