Senators unanimously approved on Monday Senate Bill No. 2568 or the Expanded Tertiary Education Equivalency and Accreditation Program (ETEEAP) Act, which seeks to enable senior high school and technical vocational school graduates to obtain college degrees through relevant work experience.

In his manifestation, Senator Joel Villanueva said through ETEEAP work experience — whether formal, informal, and non-formal learning — will have an equivalent credit for an individual to acquire a bachelor’s degree or higher in a shorter period of time.

“Sa panukalang ito, nais nating higitan pa ang 3,000 na graduates kada taon na nakakatapos sa programa (With this measure, we want to surpass the 3,000 graduates per year that completed the program),” Villanueva said.

“Nais din nating siguruhing mas dadami ang mga paaralan at kursong magpapatupad ng ETEEAP, mula sa kasalukuyang 110 na pribado at pampublikong institusyon na posibleng maging 472 na institusyon. Inaasahan din natin na magkakaroon ng ETEEAP Center of Excellence at Center of Development sa bawat rehiyon (We also want to ensure that there will be more schools and courses that will implement ETEEAP, from the current 110 private and public institutions to potentially 472 institutions. We also expect to have an ETEEAP Center of Excellence and Center of Development in each region),” he added.

Under the measure, ETEEAP applicants must be at least 23 years old, have completed secondary education, and possess at least five years of industry-related work experience.

Implemented by the Commission on Higher Education, the program addresses the challenges faced by college dropouts whose skills lack formal recognition, potentially leading to missed opportunities. (PNA)