Filipino graduates’ English skills lower than target for cab drivers in Dubai

[jut703]

Filipino graduates? English skills lower than target for cab drivers in Dubai, study says | Headlines | The Philippine Star

The English proficiency level of college graduates in the Philippines is lower than the proficiency target set for high school students in Thailand and the competency requirement for tax drivers in Dubai, the preliminary results of a two-year study showed.

Rex Wallen Tan, general manager of Hopkins International Partners, said that the average English proficiency score of a Philippine college graduate was 631.4, based on the metrics of the Test of English for International Communication.

Tan explained this was alarming considering that cab drivers in Dubai, United Arab Emirates were expected to have a TOEIC proficiency score of 650 while business process outsourcing agents should have a score of 850 in the metric.

He explained that in terms of the Common European Framework of Reference of Languages, where A1 represented basic users and C2 meant proficient users, the level of Filipino college graduates was at B1, lower than the B2 target for Thai high school graduates.

He said that this was a serious problem considering that communication skills were one of the primary considerations in the hiring of applicants.

“Communication skills are the number one reason why graduates are not being hired,” Tan said Thursday on the sidelines of the Government Academe Industry Network convention at Heritage Hotel in Pasay City.

Monette Ituralde-Hamlin, president of GAIN, stressed that need for the government, the academe, and the industry to address the low level of proficiency of Filipino graduates, warning that the Philippines is “sitting on a landmine.”

“Most of the country’s major economic drivers are anchored on English proficiency,” she said, “For us to successfully continue to equip a globally-competitive workforce, we must synergize and take on a multi-sectoral approach.”

Hamlin urged the government, the academe and the industry to adopt global English standards such as the CEFR framework already used in 81 countries and to aspire for a least a score of B2 (Independent User) among the country’s graduates and members of the workforce.

Another worrying finding from the study, Tan said, was that graduates of Bachelor of Science of Education major in English who participated in the research scored between Grade 2 and Grade 5 English proficiency.

“What makes it unique is they graduated despite low proficiency. Number two, that university is level 3 accredited for some programs,” he said, as he raised questions about the admission requirements of schools, the education standards being observed and the accreditation process currently in place.

“It’s not just one school, but a whole series of processes that don’t make sense,” Tan said.

Also concerning was the fact that the sample for their investigation came from private institutions with mid-level tuition fees and high quality standards and state universities and colleges, according to Tan.

Grace Zata, GAIN’s vice president for industry, stressed that companies could train their employees in the latest technologies but underscored the need for graduates to be equipped with basic knowledge and skills.

She said that some of the skills that companies in the Philippines and the world were looking for were the candidates’ ability to communicate, influence and collaborate.

Peter Laurel, president of the Lyceum of the Philippines University- Batangas and Laguna, also supported the adoption of a set of national English standards and warned that the industry would slowly require schools to level up.

Speakers at the convention said that the results of the investigation showed that the English proficiency advantage of the Philippines was “great at risk” as countries such as Singapore and Thailand continued to improve their citizens’ language skills.

Aside from worries over the English proficiency of Filipino graduates, skills mismatch and the economic integration of Southeast Asian nations were some of the challenges that were identified by the convention’s participants.

My take on this is that the Philippine education system simply rested on its laurels too much. Sure, back in the 90s we were head and shoulders ahead of most if not all non-native English speaking countries. But they all stepped up their game significantly while we languished.

Now in this most recent reckoning, we're in the back of the pack. It's good that we got a headstart and jumpstarted the BPO industry here - but what's keeping them here are the low wages rather than the superior proficiency of Filipino labor.

Relating this to forums - if you read team-bhp (India) or lowyat (Malaysia), most people are fluent enough with conversational English that even outsiders like us can understand the forum discussion. Here, quite a number of forumers couldn't hold a decent English conversation even if they tried. That's fine if your livelihood doesn't depend on it, hopefully the BPO folks are much more competent.

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[BratPAQ]

During my time at public school in the 90s we are only around 30 students per class and each students have books provided by the government.

I heard today 1 class can have as many as 60 students on public schools. And not all student have a set of books, some of them have to share.

If in a class if 60 students and you are one of those at the back, you might as well not attend tte class.

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[jut703]

Filipinos were ahead when it came to basic English ("what's your name?" "Where is the restroom?" "Chickenjoy is my favorite food").

But we're a long way from actually being able to fluently express their thoughts in English (whether spoken or in writing), and other countries have caught up bigtime.

Just now, the table beside me at the restaurant had 2 Americans with their Filipino friends. They asked the girl - "So what's the best meal you can offer for 4 very hungry people?"

The waitress was visibly stumped and couldn't seem to phrase her reply correctly. All she could say was "this sir very good" while pointing to one of the bundles on the menu.

Surely, many people will think, "eh nasa Pilipinas sila dapat mag-Tagalog sila", but it's that very stubbornness to level up their English competency that is proving to be detrimental to the future prospects of folks in the service sector.

The anti-intellectualism really irks me, and it's tied to the topic in the other thread about how confidently ignorant Filipinos are.

It will take a decade or so to revamp the public school curriculum to adapt to the increasing standards of globalization, but it has to start with a paradigm shift that realizes that we can no longer coast like before as we are the ones that need to catch up now.

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[Egan101]

I once read an article stating that even though a majority of Pinoys speak good English but most of these Pinoys don't think or do not have the capacity to make full use of things they learned in school.

Maybe a sad truth of sorts but it is quite evident in our society. We have a bunch of college graduates but most of them can't even land a good job. Even worse for high school grads in which a bunch of them even have no idea or no recollection what they have learned from all the years they spent in school.

[uls]

madami feeling magaling mag english sobra bilib sa sarili pero mali mali ang grammar haha

[StockEngine]

If FB is an indicator, its really really bad.

I read some automotive fb groups and if these income groups can be so bad then the lower income groups are worse.

Glad we have English professors around here..

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[uls]

lower income groups cannot understand english let alone speak it

kaya mga palabas sa TV na dati english ngayon tagalog na

panahon ko Voltes V, Daimos etc english lahat

ngayon tagalog


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you need to let kids watch TV shows in english para matuto

pero itong mga TV network ratings ang habol

pag konte manood, wala advertisers

[Egan101]

lower income groups cannot understand english let alone speak it

kaya mga palabas sa TV na dati english ngayon tagalog na

panahon ko Voltes V, Daimos etc english lahat

ngayon tagalog


--


you need to let kids watch TV shows in english para matuto

pero itong mga TV network ratings ang habol

pag konte manood, wala advertisers

Kids won't learn that much for the stuff they watch on TV. Instant gratification will not develop deep learning. Puro kababawan lang.

It is important that we stress the value of reading. Through reading, kids will develop comprehension and understanding.

[shadow]

Baka naman we're Just being too hard on our own people.

Kahit naman sa America mali-mali Grammar nila eh. First language pa nila yan.


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[keithdb]

Might be true. Mga fresh grad sa office namin hirap sa english. Mali mali pa sa grammar.

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