SUAL – A new post-high school education exam will be introduced this year, with emphasis on both academic aptitude and technical-vocational skills, Education Secretary Jesli Lapus announced here.

Lapus said the test, called the National Career Entrance Assessment (NCEA) which will be compulsory for all the 1.8 million senior high school students nationwide, will be conducted either in December or January next year.

The NCEA, however, will not serve as a pre-requisite for admission to colleges and universities, said Lapus who came here November 10 for the Adopt-A-School project of Mirant Philippines, which operates a power plant in the town.

“It will serve as a guide. They’re now guided. They’ll be misguided if they disregard it,” he said.

Until 12 years ago, graduating secondary school students were required to take the National College Entrance Examination (NCEE), which served as a passport to both public and private colleges and universities.

Since its abolition in 1994, Lapus said college entry has become “free-flowing” and this does not bid well with many in the population having a skewed mentality that getting a university diploma is all that matters.

There is a misconception, he said, that if you don’t go to college, you face a bleak future. “That’s not true,” he said.

He emphasized that technical-vocational skills are just as in demand.

He said based on statistics from the Department of Labor and Employment, there are 600,000 job vacancies waiting for qualified applicants, yet there are two million unemployed Filipinos. — EVA

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