Undertaking a Curriculum Mapping of an ASEAN, CHED and
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Undertaking a Curriculum Mapping of an ASEAN, CHED and ... 1 c h a p t e r 1 Undertaking a Curriculum Mapping of an ASEAN, CHED and TESDA Tourism Curricula for Philippine HEIs Ma. Christina G. Aquino ABSTRACT This study identifies educational developments that will impact on HEIs and the need to undertake curriculum mapping to ensure that minimum competency standards are included in the program to meet Philippine and Regional requirements. Some of these developments include ASEAN Integration 2015, MRA for Tourism Professionals, Common ASEAN Tourism Curriculum, the ACCSTP that must be aligned with TESDA’s Training Regulations; the Philippine Qualifications Framework, and the Ladderized Education Program. The model defines these minimum standards and inputs from academe, students and industry are used to give HEIs relevant feedback on the selection of competencies, creating unique features for each HEI. Keywords: curriculum mapping, ASEAN MRA For TP, CATC, ACCSTP, PQF, LEP INTRODUCTION ASEAN Integration 2015 There are three pillars of the ASEAN Integration 2015 and this includes the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community and the ASEAN Political-Security Community. 2 Building Competitive Advantage for Destinations: A Sustainable... The AEC has four objectives and these are: single market and production base, competitive economic region, equitable economic development and integration into the global community. The single market and production base will allow for seven of the seventeen core elements and these include: free flow of goods, services, skilled labor, investment, capital, food and agricultural security, and integration of the 12 priority sectors, of which Tourism has been identified as one priority sector. With all the educational developments in the Philippines (K-12 and PQF) and regionally, the ASEAN MRA for TP, HEIs must be able to offer a curricula in tourism and hospitality that will consider all the requirements of K-12, PQF and ASEAN and still comply with the requirements of the CHED, the government agency that regulates and monitors all HEIs in the Philippines. A curriculum mapping needs to be undertaken so that the curricula is able to meet all the government regulations and at the same time, is able to meet its institutional vision, mission and objectives, as well as its various stakeholders. The curriculum must be able to meet the general requirements of the Philippines and ASEAN and yet provide uniqueness for the HEI so that will be different from all the other HEIs in the Philippines. Purpose of the Paper To respond to these developments, this paper will present a method to undertake acurriculum mapping of competency standards that will meet the requirements of the ASEAN CATC, CHED PSG and TESDA TR for a Philippine HEI. RELATED LITERATURE ASEAN MRAs With the AEC, educational programs among the ASEAN Member States (AMS) will need to develop programs and curricula that will allow for a framework of recognition of licenses and assessment results for professionals to be able to work, as part of the free flow of “skilled labor”. To date, there are eight Mutual Recognition Arrangements that have been signed by the various ASEAN Ministers. Accountancy Services, Medical Practitioners, Nursing Services, Architecure and Surveying Services, Electronic and Electrical Equipment Preamble, Dental Practitioners, Engineering Services, and Tourism Professionals. In the Philippines, the first seven MRAs will be implemented through the Professional Regulation Commission, the government recognized agency responsible for the administration, implementation and enforcement of regulatory policies on the regulation and licensing of various professions and occupations under its jurisdiction. Undertaking a Curriculum Mapping of an ASEAN, CHED and ... 3 ASEAN MRA for Tourism Professionals The ASEAN Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) for Tourism Professionals (TP) was signed by all ASEAN Member States last November 2012. As part of the preparations, several ASEAN Master Trainers and Assessors trainings were conducted in different parts of AMS, with two to three representatives from each member state, with the three week ASEAN Master Trainers Program and the two week ASEAN Master Assessors Training. Aside from the trainings, ASEAN MRA for TP consultants identified required competencies through consultations with various groups with Tourism stakeholders in each member state, called the ASEAN Common Competency Standards for Tourism Professionals (ACCSTP). The consultants also developed the toolboxes containing various resources such as Assessor’s Manual, Presentation slides, Trainer Guide, Trainee Manual which can be downloaded through a website. To date, 145 competencies of the 242 competencies in the ACCSTP have complete toolboxes already. The Common ASEAN Tourism Curriculum (CATC) was likewise developed containing guides in packaging the curriculum for the fifty-two qualifications in the six labor divisions that include: Housekeeping, Front Office, Food Production, Food and Beverage Services, Tour Operations and Travel Agents. There are qualifications from Certificate 2, 3, 4, Diploma and Advanced Diploma and contain a combination of Core and Generic Competencies that are required for each labor division; and Functional Competencies that are required for each level of qualification. The trainings were done for the different qualifications as follows: Housekeeping in Bali last November to December 2012; Food Production in Thailand last September to October 2014; Front Office in Bali last October 2014 and Food & Beverage Service last November to December 2014. The two labor divisions of Tour Operations and Travel Agents will be conducted sometime in 2015. As part of the undertaking, all Philippine participants will conduct cascade training to selected trainers/assessors in the country to develop awareness and utilization of the materials in the various programs. The Housekeeping group conducted two cascade training sessions already. These were undertaken last March 2014 at the TESDA Women’s Center, and in Marriot Cebu last July 2014, with 65 participants completing both sessions. Lead Agencies in the Implementation of the ASEAN MRA for TP In implementing the ASEAN MRA for TP, three agencies were identified by each AMS. In the Philippines, the National Tourism Organization (NTO) is the Department of Tourism (DOT), the government agency that initiates programs for the tourism sector; the National Tourism Professional Board (NTPB) is led by the Tourism Industry Board Foundation Inc (TIBFI) which is the Board for Tourism Professionals composed of representatives from the public and private sectors including the academia and other relevant tourism stakeholders as identified by 4 Building Competitive Advantage for Destinations: A Sustainable... the ASEAN NTOs; and the Tourism Professional Certification Board (TPCB) which is the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), the agency authorized by the government of each ASEAN Member State primarily responsible for the assessment and certification of tourism professionals. The three agencies have been working together to bring awareness of the ASEAN MRA for TP, CATC, and the ACCSTP in the various regions in the Philippines. They have conducted 17 awareness seminars that were initiated by DOT. TIBFI has also intensified its membership to bring together tourism organizations that represent various sectors, and conducted the 3rd HR Tourism Congress in Davao recently. TESDA is also reviewing current Training Regulations in the Tourism sector and align it with the ACCSTP and CATC. Currently, there are ongoing convergence activities being undertaken by DOT, CHED, TESDA, DepEd in ensuring that the CATC and ACCSTP as mandated in the ASEAN MRA are integrated with the various competency standards that will be defined by the various educational agencies in implementing the Philippine Qualifications Framework (PQF). Philippine Qualifications Framework The PQF provides for a seamless education process from Basic Education for Kindergarten up to Grade 12 for Levels 1 and 2, and Technical Education Skills Development for Levels 3 to 5 that includes NC III, IV and Diploma and Higher Education for the Baccalaureate, masters and doctoral programs for Levels 6 to 8. The basic education curriculum has included already various National Certificates in Grades 11 and 12, allowing for graduates of Basic Education to possess knowledge and skills that have been assessed and certified by TESDA to seek employment in jobs that can be described as “manual, practical and/or operational in focus with a variety of options.” Ladderized Education Program In higher education, the Republic Act 10647 known as “An Act Strengthening The Ladderized Interface Between Technical-Vocational Education And Training And Higher Education” was signed on July 28, 2014. Section 2 of this law states that “it is hereby declared the policy of the State to institutionalize the ladderized interface between technical-vocational education and training (TVET) and higher education to open the pathways of opportunities for career and educational progression of students and workers, create a seamless and borderless system of education, empower students and workers to exercise options or to choose when to enter and exit in the educational ladder, and provide job platforms at every exit as well as the opportunity to earn income.” This is also known as the Ladderized Education Program (LEP), students who earn