Building a future-ready work force from classrooms to boardrooms

December 13, 2017 | 12:01 am

By John Laxon

HOW do we prepare for successful careers?

This question has challenged our education systems for generations. Although it can be argued that now more than ever, technological change has brought an unprecedented set of challenges that our youth have to contend with to be successful in today’s, and more importantly, tomorrow’s world.

boys reading books

Knowledge of traditional subjects are no longer an adequate marker of ability. Not only are today’s students required to master skills in problem-solving, they must also demonstrate versatile and critical thinking skills for an increasingly virtual world.

Education systems around the world have often struggled to meet and anticipate future skills needs. More needs to be done to break down classroom walls and adequately prepare students to have multiple careers in the 21^stcentury.

The good news is that education systems are now being assessed on how well they prepare students for the future.

FUTURE-READY GRADUATES
According to The Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2017 Educating for the Future Index, educational systems around the world must find ways to produce graduates who are able to constantly anticipate and acclimatize to the changing demands of the global economy.

Specifically, the Future Index highlights project-based learning, industry collaborations, and the need for technology-based curricula as key areas in which education systems around the world must invest in.

The Future Index provides a holistic perspective of education systems, by including measures on respective national education policy environments, teaching environments, and socioeconomic environments. These are critical factors that determine the ability of education systems and their institutions to produce resilient and work-ready graduates.

It is noteworthy that the Future Index ranks New Zealand as the best education system overall, earning full marks for the curriculum framework for future skills, collaboration between education providers and industry, and cultural diversity and tolerance among other measures. Indeed, these are the cornerstones upon which we have built our internationally recognized education system, and the reasons why 130,000 international students from more than 180 countries study in New Zealand every year.

New Zealand’s “Think New” approach promotes inquisitive and project-based learning, provides flexible learning pathways for students, and is built upon a world-class education quality assurance system. These foundations, and well-targeted education subsidies, have enabled collaborations between education institutions and industry that provide students with formal education qualifications as well as industry-relevant skills.

Additionally, government investments in digital infrastructure has ensured that the next generation of New Zealand graduates are not just digitally savvy but are digital natives. According to the Future Index report, 98% of New Zealand institutions are connected to fast and uncapped broadband connections, making technology an enabler of education in New Zealand.

Such focused efforts have resulted in several New Zealand universities being included in the QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2017 list, which ranks 300 leading global institutions based on five key aspects of graduate employability.

To effectively prepare students for an increasingly connected world, education systems must also welcome global perspectives. New Zealand has championed this cause, becoming a sought-after international education destination and being ranked as the safest English-speaking country in the world by the Global Peace Index for ten years in a row. International education is now New Zealand’s 4^th largest export industry.

How are these learnings relevant to Philippines? New Zealand demonstrates that any education system can successfully prepare students when there is a coordinated and sustained effort by education leaders, teachers, parents, students, and government to raise education standards.

Today, more than 4,000 Filipino students are in New Zealand pursuing an international education and a large reason behind this growth has been the future-focused education system that New Zealand offers.

The great news is that today’s globally connected world enables us all to share these learnings.

Not only are New Zealand universities and education ministries working on education capability-building contracts across South East Asia, we are welcoming more and more international students to our country to experience our education system.

We are excited to continue working with our Filipino counterparts to further our investments in developing crucial skills for our students that will can ultimately determine their success in the boardrooms.

John Laxon, Education New Zealand’s Regional Director of South, South East Asia & the Middle East.

Labor force survey (Philippines, October 2017)

December 13, 2017 | 12:01 am

THE RANKS of jobless Filipinos grew in October, but job quality saw the biggest improvement in more than a decade, according to latest labor data which the government released on Tuesday. Read the full story.

Vitarich plans debt-to-equity swap

December 13, 2017 | 12:01 am

VITARICH Corporation is looking to convert the company’s debts into equity, as it hopes to see a healthy balance sheet by next year.

The Bulacan-based feeds and livestock company said the debt-to-equity conversion, its second in four years, will be worth P400 million.

“By paying the company’s remaining debt with shares, the company will conserve much-needed cash for its operation and its expansion plans. Also, paying the remaining debt with shares instead of doing a ‘dacion’ of its core assets will allow Vitarich to benefit from the rental income and future increases in real estate value of the non-core assets,” Vitarich Chief Executive Officer and President Ricardo Manuel M. Sarmiento said.

He said Vitarich shareholders have also approved the plan to undergo quasi-reorganization, allowing it to eliminate the deficit which, as of end-2016, stood at P2.417 billion.

“After the quasi-reorganization abolishes the company’s deficit, Vitarich can then already declare dividends to its shareholders from the unrestricted retained earnings that will subsequently be generated,” Mr. Sarmiento said.

At the same time, Vitarich is aiming to sustain the growth momentum it has seen so far this year.

For the first nine months of 2017, Vitarich recorded P107 million in consolidated net income, 21 times higher than the P5 million during the same period a year ago, driven by 27% increase in sales revenues.

Mr. Sarmiento said the company set aside a capital expenditure of P130 million for 2018.

Vitarich is also planning to build another feed mill, expected to produce 20 tons per hour, in Luzon.

“In Batangas, we also have plans to put up our own feed mill. We’re estimating it be to around P400 million. We hope to groundbreak by mid-next year, it will take about 14 months for the construction so if we’re successful in groundbreaking by June it will be operational by fourth quarter in 2019,” Mr. Sarmiento said. — Anna Gabriela A. Mogato

Tax reform watch weighs on investor sentiment

December 13, 2017 | 12:01 am

ANY OPTIMISM over the Philippines’ credit rating upgrade on Monday by Fitch Ratings evaporated yesterday, as investors awaiting Congress’ ratification of tax reforms made the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) end three days of gains.

PSEi dropped 24.51 points or 0.29% to close 8,334.06, while the all-shares index gave up 18.83 points or 0.39% to end 4,866.62.

“The local market traded on a softer note a day before a series of huge events in the next few days,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Managing Director Luis A. Limlingan said, citing impending ratification of the first of up to five tax reform packages designed to boost infrastructure spending till 2022, when President Rodrigo R. Duterte ends his six-year term.

The bicameral conference committee harmonizing divergent tax reform provisions of the Senate and the House of Representatives was unable to issue its report yesterday for ratification by both chambers.

Diversified Securities, Inc. equity trader Aniceto K. Pangan said “the market is still awaiting the final version of the tax reform package,” whose divergent provisions have spelled significant difference in terms of projected additional revenues.

“Investors have been discounting this news, but until this is final then it is not yet set,” Mr. Limlingan noted, while Mr. Pangan said that “[u]ntil we are certain of the final version, definitely market will continue to consolidate.”

Set to be ratified separately is the proposed P3.767-trillion national budget for 2018.

Both laws are targeted for implementation starting Jan. 1 next year.

Congress is also expected to extend for a year martial law declared over Mindanao — in the face of what Malacañang sees as persistent threat from Islamic militants and communist rebels — that is set to lift at end-2017.

Lawmakers then adjourn on Dec. 16 for a month-long break.

Four of the six sectoral indices ended with losses: mining and oil by 149.57 points or 1.28% to 11,559.25, holding firms by 87.99 points or 1.04% to 8,412.21, services by 13.60 points or 0.86% to 1,569.89 and industrial by 15.08 points or 0.14% to 11,017.

On the other hand, property gained 18.31 points or 0.47% to finish 3,915.43, while financials added nine points or 0.42% to close 2,152.90.

Negative sentiment similarly gripped many other Asian bourses, with Japan’s Nikkei 225, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index, China’s blue-chip CSI 300, the Shanghai Composite Index, South Korea’s KOSPI Index, Straits Times Index and the Jakarta Composite Index dropping 0.32%, 0.63%, 1.31%, 1.24%, 0.42%, 0.16% and 0.09%, respectively.

Philippine stocks that declined led those that gained 115 to 87, while 52 others were unchanged.

Tuesday’s list of the 20 most-traded stocks showed only seven gained, led by Ayala Land, Inc. that added 1.49% to end P44.15 apiece, Bank of the Philippine Islands that increased by 0.96% to P105, Security Bank Corp. that rose by 0.72% to P252 and Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. that climbed 0.87% to P98.95 each.

Those that lost were led by Bloomberry Resorts Corp.; DMCI Holdings, Inc.; International Container Terminal Services, Inc.; and Ayala Corp. whose shares gave up 3.55% to close P10.32 apiece; 3.27% to P14.22; 2.008% to P102.50 and 1.44% to finish P1,025 each.

Tuesday saw 638.34 million stocks worth P6.61 billion change hands, compared to Monday’s 923.34 million stocks worth P5.85 billion.

Foreigners remained predominantly sellers for the eighth straight trading day, but Tuesdays’ mere P491,402.68 net sales were the smallest amount in that period. — Arra B. Francia

How PSEi member stocks performed — December 12, 2017

December 13, 2017 | 12:00 am

Here’s a quick glance at how PSEi stocks fared on Tuesday, December 12, 2017.

Insurance firms’ premium income jumps in 3rd quarter

December 13, 2017 | 12:00 am

By Karl Angelo N. Vidal

THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY booked a single-digit increase in its total premium income in the third quarter, driven by the continued growth of the life insurance sector.

Preliminary data based on unaudited reports submitted by life and non-life companies to the Insurance Commission showed the industry’s total premiums collected in the July to September period rose by 9.41% to P185.51 billion from the P169.56 billion posted during the same period last year.

Broken down, life insurers reported P144.63 billion worth of premiums at end-September, 8% higher than the P133.85 billion recorded during the same period a year ago.

“The total premiums from variable life insurance products rose by 8.74% from P96.46 billion to P104.89 billion,” Insurance Commissioner Dennis C. Funa was quoted as saying in a statement on Tuesday.

While the premium income from single premium variable life insurance product fell by 5.81%, Mr. Funa noted this was offset by the “impressive” increase in its first year and renewal premiums, which grew by 12.28% and 34.43%, respectively.

Premiums from traditional life insurance products surged by 29.01% in single premium and 23.07% in first year premium.

Meanwhile, non-life insurers saw 14% rise in total net premiums to P34.31 billion in the third quarter from P30.1 billion booked in the same period last year.

“The non-life insurance sector demonstrated continued momentum in the third quarter of this year through the sale of fire and motor insurance products,” Mr. Funa said, noting that more than half of the total net premiums written by the sector were generated from the said products.

In addition, mutual benefit associations (MBAs) recorded total contributions of P5.61 billion in the July to September period, up 16.59% from P4.27 billion quoted last year.

The insurance industry’s net income jumped 21.88% to P27.86 billion in the July-September period, versus the P22.85 billion booked in the same period last year.

Broken down, net income of life insurers climbed 31.93% to P21.96 billion, while MBAs saw its net surplus rise 15.19% to P3.13 billion.

Meanwhile, non-life insurers’ net income declined by 20.87% to P2.76 billion during the third quarter from P3.49 billion reported in a comparable year-ago period.

Nation at a Glance — (12/13/17)

December 13, 2017 | 12:00 am

News stories from across the nation. Visit www.bworldonline.com (section: The Nation) to read more national and regional news from the Philippines.

Philippine trade year-on-year performance

December 13, 2017 | 12:00 am

FOREIGN SALES of Philippine goods grew for the 11^th straight month last October, but the double-digit increase in merchandise imports drove the monthly trade gap to its biggest on record, the government reported yesterday. Read the full story.

Tax reform measure remains in bicam

December 13, 2017 | 12:00 am

TAX REFORM remained with the bicameral conference committee reconciling the House and Senate bills Tuesday night, senior legislators said.

“Not today. Wala pa, hindi pa namin napipirmahan (we have not signed),” House Majority Floor Leader Rodolfo C. Fariñas said of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) measure.

According to Senate Majority Floor Leader Vicente C. Sotto III, “Magulo pa. Hindi pa pipirma. Saka ‘yung mga bicam members, may mga tsine-check pa.” (It’s still not in order. We’re not yet signing. And the bicameral committee members are still checking some things.)

Mr. Sotto said it is still possible to have the measure ratified before the year ends if the bicameral committee members can “straighten out their issues.” — Minde Nyl R. dela Cruz

Fullerton Health announces Philippines market entry through the acquisition of Intellicare Group

December 13, 2017 | 12:00 am

Singapore – Fullerton Healthcare Corporation Limited (Fullerton Health) have announced that it has entered into agreements to acquire a 60% stake in the Intellicare Group, one of the leading managed care providers in the Philippines. The Philippines is an important market in Asia Pacific for Fullerton Health, underpinned by attractive underlying growth drivers. Completion of the transaction is subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions and is expected to complete in early 2018.

The Intellicare Group was founded in 1995 and is strategically aligned with Fullerton Health’s vision of being Asia Pacific’s preeminent total healthcare solution provider. The Intellicare Group comprises three companies: Asalus, a health maintenance organisation (“HMO”) engaged in the delivery of managed healthcare services via comprehensive, systematic and prevention-oriented health maintenance programmes; Avega, a provider of third party administration services to corporates as well as small and medium enterprises; and Aventus, a chain of nine outpatient multi-speciality clinics.

Dr Michael Tan, Co-Founder and Group CEO of Fullerton Health, commented: “Today is an important milestone for Fullerton Health and takes us into our eighth country in Asia Pacific. With a population of over 100 million people, the Philippines offers great growth potential for the company, and the potential synergies between our two businesses, together with our operational and technological capabilities, will allow us to deliver increased benefits and services to even more corporates and patients across the country. This acquisition reinforces our strategy of developing a strong presence in markets across the region, and I would like to take this opportunity to welcome the Intellicare Group to the Fullerton Health family.”

Mario M. Silos, Chairman and President of Intellicare Group, said: “The investment by Fullerton Health, establishing them as our majority shareholder, is an exciting development for the Intellicare Group. It will enable us to tap into their expansive network and wealth of experience across Asia Pacific to ensure that we are delivering the most sophisticated care possible to corporates and patients throughout the Philippines. As the country’s preeminent HMO, we arecommitted to leading the managed healthcare space. Fullerton Health shares our values of ensuring that healthcare is efficient, accessible, affordable and compassionate, and the synergies created through this acquisition will enable us to uphold each of these and enhance our innovative and holistic approach to managed healthcare.”

Factory output down 6.5% in October, worst since 2011

December 12, 2017 | 11:53 am

Factory output declined in October, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported this morning.

Preliminary results of the PSA’s Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries (MISSI) showed that in October, factory output – as measured by the Volume of Production Index (VoPI) – contracted by 6.5%, the worst turnout since December 2011 when factory output declined by 7.7%.

This was lower than the revised 4.1% contraction recorded in September and a reversal of the 9.9% growth posted a year ago.

Sectors that posted double-digit declines were: chemical products (-61.0%), tobacco products (-39.4%), textiles (-28.3%), footwear and wearing apparel (-27.5%) and paper and paper products (-18.9%).

Average capacity utilization, which is the extent by which industry resources are being used in the production of goods, was estimated at 83.8%. Eleven of the 20 sectors registered capacity utilization rates of 80% and above. — Christine Joyce S. Castañeda

This e‑Learning startup aims to be the Uber of edtech industry

December 12, 2017 | 11:32 am

The Generation Y, where the much debated‑about millennials belong to, is said to be the most entrepreneurial generation. A big chunk of this demographic prefers running their own businesses rather than working for an established company.

Research conducted by the team behind Bizcool, an e‑Learning platform launched just last November, led to the same conclusion.

The results of the study, which tapped 500 respondents with age ranging from 18 to 45 years old, showed that 65.2% or 326 respondents are “extremely” into running their own business.

“[A large] demographic of the millennials, they extremely value entrepreneurship, but we don’t have enough access to education. Workshops cost around ₱3,000 for a three‑hour workshop, but it’s still not that intensive,” Bizcool CEO Marvin Perol told the media in an interview.

With such premise came the idea of launching the platform, which aims to bring “affordable and accessible” education about entrepreneurship to the digital space.

Bizcool offers 11 online courses covering fundamental information on establishing and operating a business. Its courses include “My Coffee Shop,” “My Bakeshop,” “My Eatery,” and “My Online Store,” which all cover the kinds of businesses that respondents of the study think are the most ideal ventures.

Each course, which can be availed at a starting rate of ₱1,129, includes five modules, 38 tutorial videos, 41 PDF files, and three worksheets on average.

Perol, who owns a video equipment‑rental business, said the platform aims to help budding entrepreneurs address such perennial concerns as lack of capital through reading materials on how to raise funds and how to create a business plan and financial forecast.

“We’re targeting individuals who are not very particular with academic portfolio, they want to really jump into business right now, that’s their personality profile. But we are continuously studying the market,” he said.

But while many millennials are keen to build their own business, Vincent Velasquez, a college professor and co‑founder, said they dismiss the idea of learning the ropes of entrepreneurship through a conventional, classroom‑setting manner.

Art Samantha Gonzales

This is why the team assured that the contents of the modules for each course are “less academic and more practical” while retaining the theoretical lessons of entrepreneurship.

“Somehow, along the way, in doing our research we had an insight that millennials are not necessarily into studying, they just want to put up their own business, so we wanted to include less academic, more practical tools and concepts that they can really apply,” Velasquez said.

“For the most part we consulted entrepreneurs and business consultants, so for every product we conducted research for the content,” he added.

JJ Ingco, co‑founder who also teaches in a university, said the workshops will also be their marketing tools to attract more people to enrol in the digital courses.

“We’re in the business of creating e‑Learning products. However, when it (Bizcool) was made, we found out that social aspect was something important as well to people, because for the longest time, we learned through schools and that transition from personal or social aspects to digital is quite drastic at this point in time,” Ingco said.

The team currently focuses on gaining traction in Metro Manila to expand the business to the whole Southeast Asia and eventually become the edtech industry’s Uber or Alibaba.

“We want to build a community of startups. Eventually we want to be an ecosystem builder, we want to get these educators, investors to come in to the platform and increase our value over time. We have two types of users—the students and contributors and educators,” Perol said.