Life is not a straight and narrow path. Some people who have started their college education did not finish because of marriage, poverty, or other aggravating factors. But hope is now given to those who want to earn degrees through non-traditional means.
Late last year, the Senate approved on third reading Senate Bill No. 2568 or the Expanded Tertiary Education Equivalency and Accreditation Program (ETEEAP) Act. The bill seeks “to create pathways for working professionals to earn degrees through non-traditional means, thereby breaking the ‘diploma wall’” that hinders their career advancement.
Senator Francis Escudero, then chairperson of the Committee on Higher, Technical and Vocational Education said, “By granting them an alternative pathway to earn an appropriate academic degree, this program contributes to the career advancement of Filipino professionals.”
The ETEEAP is an alternative education program that allows working professionals to earn a bachelor’s degree without going through the traditional schooling methods.
The program allows individuals to acquire an academic degree via an evaluation process that recognizes, credits, and gives equivalencies to skills and knowledge they may have acquired through work experiences or training that may be formal, non-formal, or informal. This could also include national certificates (NCs) or Certificates of Competency issued by TESDA.
Those qualified for ETEEAP are Filipinos residing in the Philippines or abroad, who are at least 23 years old, and with at least five years of aggregate work experience. They must have finished secondary education or high school. They need to have either a high-school diploma or passed the Philippine Educational Placement Test or Alternative Learning System Accreditation and Equivalency Assessment and Certification.
While ETEEAP applicants may spend quite some time preparing their portfolios or documentation of work experience and training, once these are complete, the application need not take too long.
The Commission on Higher Education has a long list of universities and colleges “deputized” to offer or implement ETEEAP, and the specific courses that can be credited under it [see table]. The program is designed so that enrollees would be able to complete their undergraduate degree in just one school year via “personalized and individualized delivery.”
Under the ETEEAP program, “professionals with five or more years of work experience can use the knowledge, experiences, achievements and skills they obtained through their jobs to earn school credits that are then deducted from the total number of units or credits they are required to earn before they graduate.”
Thus, the more professional experience ETTEAP students have, the faster they can earn their baccalaureate degrees.
ETEEAP programs do not follow schedules of traditional undergraduate programs, and therefore can be taken outside of regular school or class schedules.
Final validations and learning acquisition activities may be scheduled with assessors and faculty mentors based on the availability of the student. Candidates need only attend regular classes if they request refresher or enrichment programs.
Being abroad as an expatriate or OFW should not serve as a hindrance to people who wish to complete their education. Various tools of digital communications are available to students such as video calls or other conferencing applications. One could, however, take advantage of the facilities of their universities such as libraries, laboratories, computer rooms, and other equipment for the program if they are in – or when they visit – the country.
After having completed all final validation requirements, candidates will receive “the same degree title as the anchor undergraduate program of [one’s] ETEEAP program.
Being program-based, the cost of ETEEAP differs from one program to another. It is individualized and personalized. Fees vary depending on the student’s needs and assessed capability.
CHED at the helm
The Commission on Higher Education is the lead agency in the implementation of ETTEAP. It also deputizes universities and colleges that offer ETTEAP as part of their academic program. The CHED also works with government agencies to determine priority programs, convenes inter-agency consultations for policy implementation, and allocates student financial assistance programs to ETEEAP learners.
Deputized HEIs, on the other hand, develop clear policies and procedures for the implementation of ETEEAP. They will also convene a panel of assessors (both internal and external), who shall determine the appropriate equivalency credits acquired by an applicant.
The objective of ETEEAP, said Sen. Joel Villanueva (who co-sponsored it at the Senate), “is to allow and empower persons who had to start working immediately, to be able to have their working experiences and prior learnings recognized and given equivalent credits for tertiary education.”
[Suggestion: Full print out of what’s in this link: HEIs deputized to offer ETTEAP and the programs authorized by CHED]:
https://ched.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/ETEEAP-HEIs-as-of-Dec-18-2023-1.pdf?appgw_azwaf_jsc=Wz-51aTxSqME8WTVO531_Tnc-p83IBYyXZI7CTHGGHM
