The Export Development Act (EDA) of 1994 provides that: “Labor and industrial relations policies must recognize the inevitable industrial shifts that will occur in the effort to achieve international competitiveness.…” Thus, the said law encourages that “dual training schemes shall be integrated as basic component to the country’s primary and secondary education program to ensure that the manpower needs of agriculture and industry will be matched by the skills generated by the education system…”
The Philippines has been experiencing a recurring problem on structural employment or the mismatch of education and trainings in relation to company demands. Schools are producing graduates every year who are not immersed with the real conditions of the fast-changing business environment. Such situation necessitates the re-training of hired personnel which adds to the cost of doing business specifically for exporters.
Realizing such problem, Executive Order No. 652 “CREATING THE PRESIDENTIAL TASK FORCE TO ASSESS, PLAN AND MONITOR THE ENTIRE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM”, was issued by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on August 21, 2007, to further strengthen the role of education in accelerating national development and global competitiveness.
The Export Development Council deemed it necessary to create a Networking Committee for Human Resource Development (NC-HRD) that will harmonize and complement the functions of the above Task Force through industry-academe partnership for human resource development in the export industry.