DepEd taps 170 leaders to boost SHS graduates’ employability

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education (DepEd) has tapped the assistance of more than 170 leaders across government, industry and strategic economic sectors in implementing the work immersion program under the Strengthened Senior High School (SHS) curriculum to improve the employability of graduates.

Education Secretary Sonny Angara said closing the gap between schools and industry requires urgent, ground-level execution.

The DepEd is streamlining the senior high school framework from four tracks to two: Academic and Technical-Professional (TechPro), giving learners greater subject flexibility while embedding intensive, industry-guided work immersion options.

For TechPro learners, the enhanced work immersion program will feature structured joint training plans, hands-on mentoring and industry assessments tied directly to national skills certifications.

Industry leaders underscored the need to embed strict workplace safety standards, essential soft skills and ethical values into early career training to help learners succeed in high-demand environments.

Partner associations expressed strong support for structured immersion models, with initial industry commitments already pledging around 31,000 work immersion slots.

This represents more than 60 percent of DepEd’s 50,000-slot target across over 1,100 distinct job roles.

“We are refining our curriculum and expanding our Enhanced Work Immersion Program because our learners deserve real pathways to quality jobs, entrepreneurship and higher learning. We cannot build a future-ready economy with yesterday’s skills framework,” Angara said.