Vocational education, a vital factor in our economic life

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Part of The Philippine Educator

Title
Vocational education, a vital factor in our economic life
Language
English
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In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
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APPROVED BY THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS MARCELINO BAUTISTA QUIRICO A. CRUZ Acting Edito1· Managing Edito1· ROMULO Y. MENDOZA, HERMOGENES BELEN Guests Edito1·s ~o~ EDITORIAL & BUSINESS OFFICES 1137-A Pi y MargaU, Sampaloc, Manila VOCATIONAL EDUCATION, A VITAL FACTOR IN OUR ECONOMIC LIFE The Filipino struggle for selfsufficiency dates back as early as ~~~t~~~r ~~~t w~fs ~~~t ~d~~~~!~ by Dr. Jose Rizal through his campaign for vocational education for the Filipino youth which received the unconditional support of Filipino leaders, like Marcelo H. del Pilar, Graciano Lopez Jaena, and others. The campatgn did not end right there. Throughout their life, the late President Manuel L. Quezon and the late President Manuel Roxas advocated for the same thing, because they knew full well that the Philippines could only maintain its tiov:.ri~g~;rd a!~~ i~~rfes~~~~!i~~: ty is supported by a sound economic foundation. It is not amiss to state, in this connection, that there is much to be desired insofar as our economic structure is concerned. The much depleted economy of the Philippines is all too obvious to be ignored. The Filipinos do not enjoy as high a standard of living as they did before the war. ~~~irh::rb~~~ ~~d i~018o~~~~g ebt J~indJi~~ :C~~o~y ~et~h~shco~~: try is to raise its productive power, and thereby, increase the average income of the people. The government can raise additional revenues to meet its vital needs, such as public education, bublic health, and public works, 1eri~fef:~"~e~~ie. taThi:i~:n P~; made possible by increasing their earning power. The production of more and better consumers' goods has always been among the greatest concern of the Filipino people in their struggle for greater social wealth. The need for producing locally, more and better commodities is much more evident now because of the operation of the import control law. For this reason, there should be in this country more productive workers than those enf~~~d a~~ ~~d~~~~~ci~tit~:;~Jf:; THE PHILIPPINE EDUCATOR jobs. For the same reason, the training of intelligent skilled workers, who are producers of consumers' goods, is vitally more important than the training of an excess quota of clerks, "Philosophers," and non-producing "professionals". There is not much time to waste now. We need trained farmers who could raise more rice, more vegetables, more eggs and fowls. Likewise, we need steady manu~~~;~r~~~d~:h~uch~~ cf~~0h~u~=n~~d goods, fertilizers, farm and shop implements, cutlery, building materials, and other products which are vital to our existence as a civilized people. The Philippines is endowed by f:J~rew~l~~ Jt~o~~~~~t~~~ ~~~j~ wealth, viz., natural resources, such as materials, soil, mines, rivers, seas, and water power, and the human nsom·ces which are necessary in the development of the former. Until the material resources could be converted into goods for human use and convenience, much of these material riches would continue to lie in waste. In general, the transformation or conversion of such raw materials into consumers' products ~1pt~~~~i~~~g:Zt ~ki1Jedt~~b~~~h~i can be employed. However, no matter how great our material wealths are, little will be accomplished to solve our economic problems until our human resources have been developed to the highest possible degree. The economic prosperity in the Islands can be increased to a con~~~~~~l~:efh!e ;:od~~ti~:i~tiin~ of the individual workman in both agriculture and industry. And the best and apparently the only way to improve the economic wellbeing of the individual workman is by developing his productive skills. It is essential, for instance, to help him develop skills in the use of modern tools and machines; to teach him better ways of doing and making things; to help him obtain facts and ideas necessary in solving the problems about his work and teach him to think straight with these facts and ideas. All these things constitute what is called vocational training for the individual whatever his job f~r~c~f~~~j~i~ga~e~·~~i~:~~nf!~~ workers, we call it agricultural education; and when it pertains to industrial workers, we call it trade or industrial education. The only way to produce more capable hands and skilled workmen to develop our material resources is to induce more of our talented youth to undergo vocational training in agriculture and in the trades. We should convince the youth that this type of education is really of economic importance both to themselves and to society by providing them, once they are vocationally trained, with ade. quate employment immediately af. ter their training period. In this connection, we should promote more industrial enterprises, big and small, under government initiative until the private concerns are ready to take over the control and operation of such industries. · Only in the way we have indicated above can our much-wasted natural as well as human resources be saved and used to advantage for the welfare of our people. And may it not be said, in this connection, that vocational education is a vital factor in our economic life? R.Y.M.