The Technical-Vocational-Livelihood Specialized Skills that

Incoming Senior High School Students Prefers and the Factors

that Affect their Choice
ABSTRACT
The K to 12 system of education is now in full implementation.
By June of 2016, the first batch of students will enter grade 11. The
dilemma for the students is what track and strand to take and for those
who plans to choose the TechnicalVocational and Livelihood track,
what skill(s) to specialize. Educational institutions, specifically the
private ones, are sharing the same dilemma since this is going to be
the first time that it will be implemented.
The study focuses on the Technical-Vocational and Livelihood
track. It aims to help Educational Institutions that will offer the TVL
track decide which specialized skills to open. Also, the study aims to
know the factors that made the students decide to choose the
particular skills. The data can be used to by these institutions to
formulate marketing strategies to get more enrollees.
A survey has been conducted to the current grade 10 students in
the different public high schools in San Pablo City. The students where
asked the track and the strand or specialized skills that they plan to
take in senior high school. Also, they have been asked what made
them decide in making their choice.
The total number of respondents is 3,470 and 58.79% had
chosen the Technical-Vocational and Livelihood track. The top 20
preferred TVL specialized skills are as follows:
Bread and Pastry Production (NC II)
Contact Center Services (NC II)
Automotive Servicing (NC I)
Computer Hardware Servicing (NC II)

239
208
173
163

Electrical Installation and Maintenance

(NC II)
Cookery (NC II)
Housekeeping (NC II)
Shielded Metal Arc Welding (NC I)
Food and Beverage Services (NC II)
Computer Programming (NC IV)
Caregiving (NC II)
Front Office Services (NC II)
Consumer Electronics Servicing (NC II)
Beauty and Nail Care
Animation (NC II)
Hairdressing
Technical Drafting (NC II)
Crop Production (NC I)
Animal Production (NC II)
Carpentry (NC II)

138
130
125
120
120
112
90
80
65
62
60
58
45
25
17
10

Survey also shows that from the 2040 respondents who preferred
the TVL track, 43.68% personally decide to choose a specialized skill
based on their interests. Peers, or friends also affect some students in
making their choice (21.32%), followed by the parents (18. 14%), and
the demand of job market (13.97%). The remaining 2.89% have other
personal reasons in making their choice.
Based on the results, Educational Institutions with the intent to
cater senior high schools should focus their resources on the programs
preferred by the students. Also, a career guidance program has to be
facilitated to increase the awareness of the students with the demand
of the job market to motivate them in choosing a specialized skill that
will assure them of landing a good job after.

INTRODUCTION
The Philippines is the last country in Asia and one of the only
three countries worldwide with a 10-year pre-university cycle (Angola
and Djibouti are the other two). The K to 12 Program covers
Kindergarten and 12 years of basic education (six years primary
education, four years of Junior High School and two years of Senior
High School [SHS]) to provide sufficient time for mastery of concepts
and skills, develop lifelong learners, and prepare graduates for tertiary
education, middle-level skills development, employment and
entrepreneurship.
The first batch of Senior High School (SHS) will begin in June of
2016. Each student in Senior High School can choose among four
tracks: Academic, Sports, Arts and Design, and Technical-VocationalLivelihood.
The Technical-Vocational-Livelihood track prepares the students
with many different skills to make them job-ready after high school.
Among the many strands of this track, the technical schools who
intend to cater the Technical-Vocational-Livelihood track will want to
know which specialized skills to offer by identifying the demand of the
incoming SHS students and how these students make choices.
The objective of this study was to determine the specific
specialized skills of the Technical-Vocational-Livelihood track the
incoming SHS students prefer and the factor that affected their choice.
Its result can be used by schools offering the Senior High School
program to decide which program to offer so they can focus their
resources on the program with more possible market. Also, this will
help the schools formulate marketing strategies to get more students
enroll in their institution of learning.

To gather all the necessary information, the researcher

conducted a survey to the students of various Junior High Schools.
This had been conducted in time with the Career Guidance Week
conducted by the Department of Education together with the different
non-DepEd schools that will be offering Senior High School.
The researcher had expected that automotive, housekeeping and
bartending were among the top three most preferred specialized skills.
Also, it has been expected that parents decision is the major factor
that affected their choice.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The current Grade 10 students from various high schools had
been asked to answer the survey sheet that had been formulated to be
able to gather the necessary information for the study. The data
required on the survey sheet are as follows: name of the respondent,
address, school. The specialized skills offered in the TVL track were
listed for the respondents to choose from. The possible reasons for
their preference are also in the survey sheet. The data gathered were
tabulated, analyzed and interpreted.
RESULTS
A total of 3,470 incoming senior high school students were
surveyed and 58.79% had chosen the Technical-Vocational and
Livelihood track. Among the 2040 students that had chosen TVL track,
239 had preferred Bread and Pastry Production, Contact Center
Services 208, Automotive Servicing 173, Computer Hardware
Servicing 163, Electrical Installation and Maintenance 138, and the
rest had chosen other specialized skills. Figure 1 shows the graphical
representation of the survey result of the most preferred specialized
skills of the Technical-Vocational and Livelihood track.

Figure 2 illustrates the factors that affect the decision of these

students in choosing a specialized skill. Personal preference of the
student based on their interest is the major factor that affects their
choice (891 students). This was followed by their peers/friends (435
students), and their parents (370 students). Only 285 students
considered the demand of the job market and 59 others have different
personal reasons in making their choice.

The Factors that Affect the Students in their Skills Preference

1000

891

800
600
400
200

370

435
285
59

Figure 2: Survey result on the factor that affects the decision of

the students in choosing a specialized skill.

Figure 1: Survey result on the most preferred TVL Specialized Skills

The Specialized Skills of the TVL Track Preferred by the Grade 10 Students
Bread and Pastry Production (NC II)
239
Contact Center Services (NC II)
208
Automotive Servicing (NC I)
173
Computer Hardware Servicing (NC II)
163
Electrical Installation and Maintenance (NC II)
138
Cookery (NC II)
130
Housekeeping (NC II)
125
Food and Beverage Services (NC II)
120
Shielded Metal Arc Welding (NC I)
120
Computer Programming (NC IV)
112
Caregiving (NC II)
90
Front Office Services (NC II)
80
Consumer Electronics Servicing (NC II)
65
Beauty and Nail Care
62
Animation (NC II)
60
Hairdressing
58
Technical Drafting (NC II)
45
Crop Production (NC I) 25
Animal Production (NC II) 17
Carpentry (NC II) 10
0

50 100 150 200 250 300

DISCUSSION
The survey was conducted in time with the Career Guidance
Week in different public high schools in San Pablo City. The result
shows that majority of the students preferred the Technical-Vocational
and Livelihood track (58.79%). This could be indication that skills and
livelihood training program are becoming the trend among the
students; therefore, training institutions should consider offering the
TVL track.
Now, the question is - what specialized skills to offer? Looking at
Figure 1, there are twenty specialized skills that have been chosen by
the incoming senior high school students. Topping the lead is Bread
and Pastry Production with 239 students planning to take the program.
This result is incongruent with the updates on SHS implementation for
Region 4A, where, the same qualification also ranked one of the most
preferred by the students.
Salary-wise, being a call center agent is one of the high paying
jobs in the country today. Not only that, call center agents are in
demand on the job market. This is probably the reason why Contact
Center Services emerge second in the survey as one most preferred by
students of San Pablo City.
Automotive Servicing ranked number three in the survey. Car
manufacturing is a growing industry. For the next twenty years, there
will be a demand for workers not just in car manufacturing but also in
the after sales services. This is where graduates in Automotive
Servicing come in.
Although identified by DOLE as one of the Key Employment
Generators for the next 20 years, it is very unfortunate that very few
prefer Carpentry of the construction sector and other skills on the agri-

industry sector. This is the reason why these sectors had been named
one of the most hard-to-fill jobs since there are few workers are
equipped with the skills to match the demand.
Generally, the choices made by the students are good since all
the skills chosen really the in-demand on the job market. They are
among the Key Employment Generators (KEGs) as per the Department
of Labor and Employment (DOLE). The graduates in TVL track will
surely land on a good job should they decide not to pursue a college
degree.
What are the factors that affected the students in their
specialized skills preferred? Traditionally, it is the parents that dictate
what course the students would take after high school (in this case, the
track and strand of the senior high school program).
Surprisingly, students decided based on their interest. The
majority of the students (43.68%) says that they have considered what
interest them the most in their preference. This is an indication that
most students nowadays are no longer influenced by their peers, more
so, not dictated by their parents. The K-12 exploratory programs given
to junior high school students can be seen as one factor that aroused
the interest of the students.
The result also shows that parents now recognize the ability of
their children to decide for their future. For those who chose the TVL
track alone, among the 2040 respondents, only 18.14% or 370
students were dictated by their parents. This number is comparatively
lower than those students influenced by their peer which is 21.32%.
The unemployment and underemployment rate in the Philippines
to continue to grow. It is not that the country has no or few job

vacancies. On the contrary, there are actually lots of job vacancies

waiting to be filled, only, skilled workers to fill in the job are few.
The Department of Labor and Employment through its PROJECT
JOBSFIT: The DOLE 2020 Vision has identified 12 KEGS that have
potential for absorbing the most number of the Philippine workforce
are as follows:
1. Agribusiness
2. Cyberservices
3. Health and Wellness
4. Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism
5. Mining
6. Construction
7. Banking and Finance
8. Manufacturing
9. Ownership Dwellings and Real Estate
10. Transport and Logistics
11. Wholesale and Retail Trade
12. Overseas Employment
On the other hand, the following four (4) Emerging Industries
were likewise identified to provide employment opportunities faster
than the output growth in the long term:
1. Creative Industries
2. Diversified/Strategic Farming and Fishing
3. Power and Utilities
4. Renewable Energy
The number respondents who have considered the demand of
the job market is 285 (13.97%). This figure, maybe low, is a good sign
that students are getting wiser and practical in making choices. The

demand of the job market is one major factor that students should
consider to make him/her job ready after senior high school with sure
employment.
The reasons of the 2.89% respondents that affected their choice
include: their first choice is not offered in any school or if offered, their
parents will not be able to afford that add-on fees by the school that
offers their choice; they just picked the program because they dont
know what to choose.

CONCLUSION
The survey result shows that the top 10 specialized skills the
incoming senior students have chosen are Bread and Pastry
Production, Contact Center Services, Automotive Servicing, Computer
Hardware Servicing, Electrical Installation and Maintenance, Cookery,
Housekeeping, Food and Beverage Services, Shielded Metal Arc
Welding, and Computer Programming. Therefore, educational
institutions should consider offering the said programs.
Also, the students have chosen specialized skills after
considering their skills of interest but few considers the demand of the
job market, which is an equally important consideration in choosing a
specialize skill. With this, a Career Guidance program has to be set to
increase the awareness of the students to in the demand of the job
market.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The researcher would like to thank the grade 10 students
of San Jose National High School, Col. Lauro D. Dizon Memorial
National High School, San Pablo City National High School, San
Bartolome National High School, Santissimo Rosario National
High School, San Isidro National High School, Atisan National
High School, Sto. Angel National High School, Prudencia Fule
Memorial National High School, Dolores National High School, Del
Remedio National High School, Sta. Filomena Integrated School,
San Vicente National High School and Dolores National High
School for participating in the survey and making this research
possible.
To the Department of Education, a heartfelt thank you for
the opportunity to conduct the survey in time with Career
Guidance Week.
To Ms. Minerva Almario, for the push that was given and
the learning materials that have been very helpful in finishing
the study.
To Claire Mae, Faith Angela and Ana Sofia, thank you for
the inspiration.
And most of all, to God Almighty.

LITERATURE CITED

K to 12 General Information. Online. Department of Education.

Available: http://www.deped.gov.ph/k-to-12/faq
Technology and Livelihood Education (TLE) and Technical-VocationalLivelihood (TVL) Track. Online. Department of Education. Available:
http://www.deped.gov.ph/k-to-12/curriculum-guides/TechnicalVocational-Track
PROJECT JOBSFIT: The DOLE 2020 Vision. Online. Bureau of Local
Employment. Available: http://www.ble.dole.gov.ph/pjf/finalreport.pdf

The Technical-Vocational-Livelihood
Specialized Skills that Incoming Senior
High School Students Prefers and the
Factors that Affect their Choice

Prepared by:
Arnel C. Himzon

Submitted to:
Ms. Minerva Almario