CSC amends rules to allow junior, senior high grads to enter gov’t
The Civil Service Commission (CSC) has amended its rules on education qualifications to allow junior and senior high school graduates to enter government service.
The eased requirements will cover first-level positions in the government and pave the way for those who completed their K-to-12 Basic Education Program, or senior high school graduates, to work in state agencies, the CSC announced on Thursday.
First-level positions are defined by the CSC as those involved in structured work in support of office operations or those engaged in clerical, trades, crafts, or custodial service.
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This involves subprofessional work in a nonsupervisory and supervisory capacity, according to the CSC’s definition.
Reflecting changes
The updated guidelines, contained under CSC Resolution No. 2500229 promulgated on March 6, were meant “to reflect changes in the national education system.”
The CSC’s revisions will now “formally recognize” graduates of junior high school (Grade 10) and senior high school (Grade 12) as eligible for first-level government positions.
However, the CSC clarified that the revised education standards do not apply to positions that require specific higher education degrees or practice of professions regulated by board laws.
It also said that prospective applicants must also meet other qualification requirements of the positions, such as relevant training, experience, and eligibility for the purposes of appointment to the first-level government positions.
“This policy shift aligns the qualification standards with the outcomes of the K-to-12 education reforms and aims to broaden opportunities for younger Filipinos to join the civil service,” the CSC said.
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Primary revisions
Among the key amendments to the qualifications made by the CSC was from “high school graduate” to “high school graduate or completion of junior high school beginning 2016,” and from “high school graduate or completion of junior high school starting 2016” to “high school graduate or those who completed any relevant vocational or trade course.”
The previous requirement of completion of two years of college has been expanded and now includes those who completed senior high school beginning in 2016 and those who finished senior high school either under the technical-vocational-livelihood track or other relevant trade courses.
This will help address the manpower shortage in the bureaucracy and the unemployment rate, which inched up slightly to 3.9 percent in March from 3.8 percent the previous month.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said this was equivalent to 1.93 million Filipinos who were either jobless or out of business in March, down from 1.94 million in February.
The unemployment rate coincided with a decline in job seekers, with the PSA data showing that the local labor force in March was composed of 49.96 million individuals aged 15 years and above who actively looked for work, lower than the 51.09 million the month before.
Leaving labor force
That translated to a labor force participation rate of 62.9 percent, down from 64.5 percent before.
National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa said the top reasons cited by those who dropped out of the labor force were schooling and family duties.
But even for the people who were able to land a job, the data showed some of them might have secured low-quality employment that does not pay well.
State statisticians reported that there were 6.44 million employed Filipinos who still had to look for additional working hours or jobs to augment their income, yielding an underemployment rate of 13.4 percent in March, the highest in 11 months.
At the same time, the number of wage and salary workers, a proxy for good quality jobs, declined to 30.44 million from 31.06 million previously.
