THE House of Representatives has approved on third and final reading a consolidated bill that would promote, strengthen, and institutionalize the ladderized education program (LEP) in the country where units in technical vocational education and training (TVET) can be credited to a college degree.

House Bill No. 4255, the consolidated bill filed by House Majority Leader and Mandaluyong City Rep. Neptali “Boyet” Gonzales, Las Pinas City Rep. Mark Villar and Marikina City Rep. Marcelino Teodoro, aims at strengthening the ladderized interface between TVET and higher education.

Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, chairman of the House Committee on Higher and Technical Education, said the proposed integration and interface of tech-voc education and higher education will enable vocational school graduates to pursue higher education without repeating subjects that were taken under TVET.

“This proposed act will definitely widen opportunities for professional growth for our vocational students where, for example, an automotive graduate can pursue related degree courses such as mechanical engineering,” said Angara.

TESDA Director General Joel Villanueva lauded the efforts of his former colleagues, saying “technical vocational education and training, is by itself a viable career option as it is rapid, flexible, jobs-oriented, and competency-based.”

“With ladderized education, however, it will provide TVET trainees and workers with the opportunities for career and educational progression; as well as facilitate the establishment of a seamless and borderless education and training system that allows mobility in terms of flexible entry and exit from the education system,” said Villanueva, a former congressman representing the party-list group Citizens Battle Against Corruption.

Villanueva said the enactment of this measure into law will result in the institutionalization of the LEP and more effective and efficient implementation of the program.

He explained that with LEP, a TVET student may obtain college units and eventually earn a diploma after progressing through TESDA’s training programs and college classes.

Gonzales II said the proposed act can be the solution to structural unemployment where there is a mismatch in the quality of skilled graduates produced by educational institutions, compared to the needs of the current market and industries.

“A stop-gap or long-term measure is needed to eliminate the problem of structural unemployment or job-skill mismatch in the industry. This can be done by institutionalizing the ladderized education program,” said Gonzales.

The bill mandates the Commission on Higher Education and the TESDA to formulate a unified qualifications framework that establishes equivalency pathways and access ramps in ladderized education.