Bill to set up job centers in high schools

A BILL that will mandate job placement offices in public high schools has been filed at the House of Representatives.

Manila Rep. John Martin C. Nieto filed House Bill 10577, which seeks to match students’ skills with a particular job early on.

The offices will be supervised by coordinators from division offices of the Department of Education.

Under the bill, these people should coordinate with local governments, public employment service offices and parent-teacher associations in creating career planning tools for their jurisdiction.

Job centers should also have at least one career advocate in charge of keeping an updated database of job vacancies, organize career enhancement seminars for young job seekers and develop and administer testing and evaluation for effective job selection.

Career and employment advocates who are not registered and licensed guidance counselors may conduct career advocacy activities for students as long as they undergo training and hold a nonteaching position.

Mr. Nieto said job centers would help cut unemployment and underemployment by boosting relations between industries and schools.

“There are neither steps nor arrangements for a structure or system in place and readily available to ensure that senior high school graduates will be able to find employment,” he said in the bill’s explanatory note. — Russell Louis C. Ku