The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Regional Office 11 has organized and established last week the Academe Industry Tripartite Council (ITC) in Davao City to bolster the participative role of academic institutions in addressing the jobs and skills mismatch and cultivating harmonious work environment in the region, that will ultimately result to increased employment generation.
DOLE Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz, in announcing the establishment of the Davao Academe ITC, said that its creation unites the region’s roster of universities, colleges, and other academic institutions towards the goal of reinforcing the education sector as one of the key employment generators and emerging industries in the region.
“Establishing or revitalizing the ITCs is one of the DOLE’s concrete measures to mitigate brain drain of academic professionals and address the problem of jobs and skills mismatch in the country,” she said.
“With the creation of the Academe ITC, the region’s education sector will now have an expanded role, in partnership with the DOLE, in enhancing labor-management relations and labor policy formulation,” she added.
The establishment of the region’s Academe ITC was a product of a series of dialogues and consultations with stakeholders and concerned government partner agencies, including social partners from the labor and management sectors coming from the Davao Association of Guidance Counselors (DAGCO); Davao Colleges and Universities’ Network (DACUN); and Asian Association of School Human Resource Management and Development (AASHPI).
During the organizational meeting, ITC members elected the members for the following committees; social dialogue, employment opportunities, rights at work, and social protection. They also discussed the ITC’s Social Accord for Industrial Peace and Stability for the Academe which commits the members to the promotion of industrial peace.
One of the first major tasks of the Academe ITC is the crafting of its Voluntary Code of Good Practices, which is expected to be signed this August.
“It is good to see the Academe ITC already gearing up for the adoption of its voluntary code of good practices. This reflects its long-term commitment to ensure the education sector’s sustainability to operate outside the framework of government regulation, and to resolve among themselves issues that they know best,” said Baldoz.
“The Academe ITC’s voluntary code of good practices shall play a significant role in providing the educational system with the latest labor market information to prepare students, our future jobseekers and workforce entrants, for courses and careers that will match the right skills demanded by the labor market,” Baldoz added.
On his part, RO 11 Regional Director Joffrey Suyao said that the organization of the Academe ITC reflects the DOLE tripartite partners’ willingness to work with the government in addressing jobs skills mismatch.
“With teachers and educators as our partners, career decision-making will be given proper emphasis before students choose their college courses,” said Suyao, who added that the network of guidance counselors and academe members in the Davao regions are actively doing their part in the extensive implementation of the DOLE career coaching program, which is part of the Academe ITC’s advocacy in the region.
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