COVER VOL 7 copy JPAIR: Multidisciplinary Journal 186 Implementation of Strengthened Technical Vocational Education Program – Competency Based Curriculum, Northern Mindanao, Philippines REYNILDA C. ALFEREZ NENITA D. PALMES reyn_alf07@yahoo.com Mindanao University of Science and Technology Cagayan de Oro City Abstract - This study attempted to assess the implementation of the Strengthened Technical and Vocational Education Program – Competency Based Curriculum (STVEP-CBC) in Region x. The study involved nine (9) DepED Technical Vocational High Schools in Region X – Northern Mindanao. The respondents included twenty one (21) administrators and ninety one (91) teachers. Descriptive statistics were used to describe and to analyze the data. The study also utilized T – test for paired values to evaluate the difference between administrators and teachers assessments in the status of implementation of STVEP - CBC. The school administrators and teachers assessed the status of the implementation of STVEP-CBC along the aspects of its program. Findings show that both administrators and teacher respondents were assessed very satisfactory on items of Competency Assessment and Certification, Instructional and Teacher Support Material, Curriculum Instruction, Program and Project Vol. 7 · January 2012 Print ISSN 20123981 • Electronic ISSN 2244-0445 International Peer Reviewed Journal doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.7719/jpair.v7i1.161 JPAIR Multidisciplinary Journal International Peer Reviewed Journal 187 Management and Monitoring and Evaluation. On one hand, both respondents register as only satisfactory on the aspect of facilities and services. This can be due to the fact that a budgetary allocation in this area is insufficient. On the other hand, assessments of administrators and teachers vary on the following: excellent by the administrators while very satisfactory by the teachers respectively the items on Human Resource Development, Property Supply Management, Fiscal Management and Physical Plant Facility. Such high assessments of the two groups are attributed to their satisfaction level with the implementation of the different programs. The professional profiles of the respondents may also have accounted for the effectiveness on the implementation of the programs. Additional budgetary allocation and enhancement trainings for both teachers and administrators are recommended. Likewise, regular monitoring should be undertaken to keep track in the effective and efficient implementation of the program. Keywords - Strengthened Technical Vocational Education, Program – Competency Based Curriculum STVEP–CBC activities INTRODUCTION Development, implementation and evaluation are administrative management processes. A program, project, plan, activity or any endeavor must start with the following phases within the administrative cycle: formulation which is the planning phase, implementation which is the execution phase and evaluation which is the review and monitoring phase. Efficiency and effectiveness of the program can be measured through consistent and effective monitoring, evaluation and assessment in order to rectify weaknesses, enhance strengths and come up with a better program to attain quality education (Gregorio 1990). JPAIR: Multidisciplinary Journal 188 Quality education has always been the major thrust of Philippine education. Amarga (2002) as cited by Botones (March 2010) in her dissertation, pointed out that one indicator of educational excellence is the presence of highly effective, efficient and efficacious curriculum implementers: the school teachers and administrators. In the 2006 DepEd data and statistics on cohort survival rates, out of 100 pupils that enter grade one, only 65 will reach and finish grade six. Meaning, there is already a 35 percent dropout rate in the elementary. Of the 65 elementary graduates, only 58 will enter high school. Eventually, out of 58, only 43 will finish their secondary education. In short, the dropout rate in high school is an alarming rate of 26 percent. Of the 43 high school graduates, only 23 will pursue their college education. The other 20 might have been in post- secondary or out-of-school status already. Eventually, only 14 of these 23 college enrollees will finish college (DepEd Updates 2007). Considering the cost of tertiary education, a number of high school graduates cannot make it to tertiary education. This plus other factors such as poor quality of teaching, high direct and indirect schooling costs and the paucity of ‘good jobs’ discourages/prevents the parents from sending their children to college. Education has also become lower level of priority compared to other short term pressing needs such as maximizing household income or providing food security (Bennel 2007) To address this reality, the Department of Education offer the technical vocational education program which is currently implemented all over the country. It provides the students with certifiable knowledge and skills, thus making them graduates equipped lifelong skills which they can use to become productive and responsive members of society (Cangas 2008). To be successful, vocational skills and trainings have to take into consideration the characteristics of local and national labour markets and employability which is commonly defined as a combination of assets and competence (Hartl 2009). The Strengthened Technical Vocational Education Program – Competency Based Curriculum (STVEP – CBC) aims to help lessen the dropout rate in high school and help lessen job – skills mismatch of graduates and labor market needs of local industries. It is geared towards providing technical-vocational students with TESDA International Peer Reviewed Journal 189 certifiable skills while still in the high school (Andrada 2008). In its implementation, the STVEP – CBC has directly benefited 282 technical – vocational high schools by putting them in a unique place in the public secondary system. Its vision is for them to become the center of excellence for fields of specializations in Arts and Trades, Agriculture and Fishery (DepEd Order No. 42 s, 2008). Hean (2004) pointed out some of the observable practices which are also revelations of the teachers and the administrators of these schools. These include the following: lack of appropriate, updated training of the teachers handling the subject areas and inadequate facilities and equipment which can be used for effective teaching. On the part of the students, there are crowded classrooms because of oversized enrolment; this is consistent with the findings of Pontillan (2002). Mismatched enrollees if the program call for appropriate screening to tailor fit the curriculum requirements to the interest, potentials and qualifications of the students. Some students have poor or low academic performance (Labrador 2004) Concerned therefore of the above realities, this research studyattemps to come up with empirical evidences and validates findings towards the improvement of the Strengthened Vocational Technical Education Program – Competency Based Curriculum. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The objectives of the study are: (1.) to determine the status of implementation of activities of STVEP-CBC as assessed by the administrators and teachers; (2.) profile of the administrators and teachers; and, (3.) to compare the assessment of the administrators and the teachers on the status of implementation of Technical vocational activities MATERIALS AND METHODS Research Design This study uses the descriptive method in determining the respondents’ perspective on the status of implementation of JPAIR: Multidisciplinary Journal 190 Strengthened Technical Vocational Education Program- Competency based curriculum in Region X, Northern Mindanao, Philippines. Respondents of the Study The respondents of this study were the school administrators who are principals, school-in-charge, assistant principals and department heads of the 9 identified technical-vocational schools in Region X. The other respondents were the teachers coming from these schools. The total population of this study is presented in Table 1. Table 1. Distribution of respondents Technical-Vocational Schools Administrators Teachers Total No. of Respondents Aloran Trade School 4 11 15 Baliangao School of Fisheries 3 10 13 Bukidnon School of Home and Industries 3 16 19 Bunawan Agricultural High School 1 6 7 Iligan City National High School 2 9 11 Kinuguitan Agricultural School 1 8 9 Opol National Secondary Agricultural Technical School 3 14 17 Ozamis City School of Arts and Trades 3 13 16 Rogongon Agricultural School 1 4 5 Total 21 91 112 International Peer Reviewed Journal 191 Sampling Procedure The study made use of purposive sampling, with the administrators and teachers assigned to teach in the STVEP-CBC as respondents. Research Instrument A survey questionnaire was utilized to gather the pertinent data for this research. The survey questionnaire for administrator and teacher respondents consists of 3 parts. The first part is the respondents profile; the second part is the respondents’ assessments on the implementation of the strengthened Technical-Vocational Education Program. This part of the questionnaire presents the twelve (12) articles of the Manual of Operation for Public Technical-Vocational High Schools. There are five statements that describe each article and the respondents are made to assess each article in terms of their awareness and knowledge in the implementation of STVEP. The third part includes the respondents suggestions for intervention mechanism. The respondents were expected to provide suggestions in the areas administration, budget, curriculum, staff, facilities and services, monitoring and evaluation, students, teachers/faculty. There are two sets of the instrument. One is for the administrator and the other one is for the teachers. This questionnaire underwent thorough review and enhancement, checked and validated by City Division DepEd officials and professors of Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology. The second part of the instrument was designed to elicit information from the administrator and teacher respondents on the assessment of the status of implementation of activities of STVEP-CBC. To facilitate quantification and ease in analysis and interpretation, the following scaling was adopted: Scale Range Descriptive Rating 1 1.00 – 1.80 Unsatisfactory 2 1.81 – 2.60 Fair 3 2.61 – 3.40 Satisfactory JPAIR: Multidisciplinary Journal 192 4 3.41 – 4.20 Very Satisfactory 5 4.21 – 5.00 Excellent Data Analysis Descriptive statistics were used to describe and summarize the properties of the mass of data collected from the respondents. The study also utilized t-test for paired values in order to evaluate the difference between school administrators’ and teachers’ assessment on the status of implementation of activities of STVEP-CBC. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Profile of the School Administrators and Teachers The demographic characteristics of the school administrators and teachers are presented in Table 1. Table 1. Frequency and percentage distribution of the demographic characteristics of the school administrators and teachers Variable Administrators (N=21) Teachers (N=91) Frequency Percentage Frequency Percentage Educational attainment Bachelor’s degree without MA units 0 0.00 21 23.60 Bachelor’s degree with MA units 13 65.00 55 61.80 MA degree 4 20.00 8 8.98 MA degree with doctoral units 2 10.00 5 5.62 Doctoral degree 1 5.00 0 0.00 No response 1 2 Number of technical/vocational- related trainings attended More than 2 trainings 7 33.33 27 29.67 International Peer Reviewed Journal 193 1 to 2 trainings 13 61.90 32 35.16 None 1 4.76 32 35.16 Teaching Experience At most 5 years 1 5.26 27 31.03 5.01 to 10.00 years 3 15.79 11 12.64 10.01 to 15.00 years 7 36.84 16 18.39 15.01 to 20.00 years 3 15.79 11 12.64 Over 20.00 years 5 26.32 22 25.29 No response 2 4 Administrative Experience At most 5 years 8 38.10 5.01 to 10.00 years 7 33.33 10.01 to 15.00 years 1 4.76 15.01 to 20.00 years 2 9.52 Over 20.00 years 3 14.29 Thirteen of the 21 administrators are Bachelor’s degree holder with MA units, four are MA degree holders, two have units in a doctoral degree and only one is a doctoral degree holder. As to this teaching experience, 7 have served for 10-15 years, 5 are over 20 years of service, 3 have served from 15-20 years and 5-10 years and 1 teacher has served at most 5 years as a teacher. As to their experience as 8 and 7 of them have been administrators for 5 and 10 years respectively, the rest have served as administrators from 10.1 to over 20 years. As can be gleaned in Table 1, approximately 24 percent of the teachers have no units in MA degree; 62 percent of them have units in MA degree; 9 percent are MA degree holders; and 6 percent of them have earned units for a doctorate degree. As to the length of service as a teacher, 21.03 percent have served at most 5 years as a teacher; 25.29 percent over 20 years of service; 18.39 percent 10-15 years; 12.64% percent from 15-20 years and 5-10 years each. Effectiveness of implementation may also be influenced by the length of exposure of a person and his personal and professional attributes to a certain job or situation that make an edge over a new teacher in the service. In this Continuation of Table 1 JPAIR: Multidisciplinary Journal 194 era of growing accountability for student performance, (Evans, 2010) stressed that understanding the way in which assessments are crafted and evaluated is of paramount importance. Testing data and results were made more applicable and meaningful to staff and students because advance-studies-exposed administrators had the ability to clarify just what the results meant and how they translated into gains for student achievement. Status of Implementation Table 2. School administrators’ and teachers’ assessment on the status of implementation of activities of STVEP-CBC Indicators School Administrators Teachers t-value p Mean Descrip- tion Mean Description 1. Human Resource Development 4.24 Excellent 3.80 Very satisfactory 2.69 .008 2. Faculty and Personnel 4.62 Excellent 3.80 Very satisfactory 3.69 .001 3. Curriculum and Instruction 4.15 Very satis- factory 4.11 Very satisfactory .19 .851 4. Competency Assessment and Certifica- tion 3.87 Very satis- factory 4.08 Very satisfactory -1.12 .266 5. Programs and Projects 3.89 Very satis- factory 3.53 Very satisfactory 1.69 .095 6. Facilities and Services 3.34 satisfactory 3.19 satisfactory .73 .470 7. Fiscal Man- agement 4.30 Excellent 3.33 Very satisfactory 4.35 <.001 8. Property and Supply man- agement 4.22 Excellent 3.53 Very satisfactory 3.02 .003 International Peer Reviewed Journal 195 9. Physical Plant Facility 4.32 Excellent 3.97 Very satisfactory 1.64 .104 10. Instruction- al and Teacher Support Mate- rial 4.13 Very satis- factory 3.76 Very satisfactory 1.70 .091 11. Manage- ment Monitor- ing and Evalu- ation 4.02 Very satis- factory 3.71 Very satisfactory 1.51 .135 *Significant if 05.≤p Table 2 shows the assessment of administrators and teachers on the status of implementation of activities of STVEP-CBC of their respective schools. Apparently, administrators and teachers have the same assessment on the average as very satisfactory as shown on their means specially on indicators such as Competency Assessment and Certifications, Instructional and Teacher Support Material, Curriculum Instruction, Program and Projects, and Management Monitoring and Evaluation, however, detailed assessment on each item component vary from very satisfactory to excellent. The unification that occurs with a common purpose often leads to greater satisfaction and motivation. As cited by Buffie (1989), in speaking of creating an environment that promotes collegiality, states it is important for the principal to: (a) provide opportunities for the staff to talk about teaching and learning; (b) encourage teachers to observe each other teaching; (c) involve staff cooperatively in planning, designing, and evaluating curriculum; and, if others are to follow your lead, (d) model these behaviors. On the other hand, the mean assessment score of the school administrators on Human Resource Development, Property Supply Management, Fiscal Management, Physical Plant Facility and Faculty & Personnel are significantly higher than that of the teachers as excellent and very satisfactory, respectively. Conversely, both groups rate Facilities and Services as satisfactory as the least. This is maybe due to the fact that budgetary allocation for this area is insufficient. Supported by Palmer (2007) that even developing countries still lack tool kits, modern machineries for demonstration and hands- Continuation of Table 2 JPAIR: Multidisciplinary Journal 196 on learning, local transport, dormitories and hostels, not to mention cafeterias and the priority area, the schools training center. It can be gleaned also in the data in Table 2 that out of the eleven indicators on the status of STVEP implementation, administrators rate excellence on the five components while only Very Satisfactory on the teachers end on the following: Human Resource Development which focuses on the Employee welfare and training; Faculty and Personnel which describes recruitment, promotions and performance appraisal; Fiscal Management on school Budget disbursements and payment transparency; Property and Supply management on school property, appropriations and procurement process and Physical Plant Facility which describes the school classroom dimension standards and accessibility. Indeed, there is a little difference on the teachers’ assessments against the school administrators’ since both have different functions to play in the institution. As Thomas (2005) stressed that a principal has the opportunity to provide a supportive, nurturing environment in which to work. This is of utmost importance to teachers in whatever task they may choose to undertake. But apparently, sometimes expectations of teachers on the administrator’s performance on implementation do not meet their expectations. It is believed that the foundational-functional relationship is not dichotomous but continuous, and that the principal on the job inevitably moves back and forth between foundations and functions in resolving issues making decisions and performing his roles (Fowers 2008).In summary, the “dramatically different role” of the principal is outlined by Brewer (2001) as “one that requires focusing on instruction; building a community of learners; sharing decision making; sustaining the basics; leveraging time; supporting ongoing professional development for all staff members; redirecting resources to support a multifaceted school plan; and creating a climate of integrity, inquiry, and continuous improvement.”A lot of factors will be considered in the implementation process where a regular teacher does not know. But as a general view, the success of any organization solely depends upon the quality and efficiency of its staff personnel, who perform the functions necessary for the fulfillment of stated goals and objectives. This assumption is as applicable to the school system as it is to any organization involving human efforts. The extent to International Peer Reviewed Journal 197 which the quality of education succeeds will depend strictly upon the quality of the personnel engaged in the educational process, and upon the effectiveness with which they carry out individual and group responsibilities (Nakpodia 2006). CONCLUSIONS With this result, it can be concluded that school administrators and the teachers are working collaboratively for the same goal. The assessment of school administrators and teachers on the status of the implementation of STVEP-CBC along the aspects of its program reveal high ratings which emanates from very satisfactory to excellent except one aspect on Facilities and services which is satisfactory. This can be due to the fact that budgetary allocations intended for facilities and services are insufficient. Such high assessments are attributed to their satisfaction level in the implementation of the different programs. RECOMMENDATIONS The professional profiles of the respondents may also have accounted on the effectiveness on their implementation of the programs. Additional budgetary allocation and enhancement trainings for both teachers and administrators are recommended and a regular monitoring program shall be undertaken to keep track effectiveness and efficiency of program implementation. LITERATURE CITED Andrada L.M. 2008 Making Curiculum Innovations Work for your School. 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