|
FILIPINOS are fast losing competitiveness in the world’s
job market simply because of the lack of proper training
facilities even as new technologies, especially in the
automotive business, continue to enter the country.
This is
the naked truth that the country is facing as various
private companies and schools continue to accelerate
their development of globally competitive automotive
technicians in the future. A recent in-depth study in
the 2007 World Competitive yearbook showed the
Philippines ranked a dismal 45th among 55 countries “in
terms of its ability to create and maintain an
environment with efficient structures, institutions and
policies to encourage the competitiveness of
enterprises.”
Jose
Bienvenido Manuel Biona, executive director of the Don
Bosco Center for Research and Training, reasoned out
“this weak performance was partly due to inadequacies
and gaps in human-resource development.” He disclosed
this during the recent signing of the memorandum of
agreement with Bosch Automotive Aftermarket Division to
provide and rollout advanced automotive-technology
courses to skilled Filipino mechanics and technicians at
the German Club in Makati City.
“This
only indicated that while the country’s unemployment
rate is 10.1 percent, employment opportunities locally
and overseas supersede the available labor supply. The
same study also indicated that there will be a
1.66-million human-resource shortage for highly critical
skills in the country from 2006 to 2010. In more detail,
this could be traced to inadequacy of the current formal
education and training system and institutions to
respond to the dynamic needs of the industry,” Biona
added.
Mustafa
Sed, general manager of the Bosch Automotive
Aftermarket, agreed by saying that “knowledge of
automotive systems has become increasingly important.
Access to knowledge, information and know-how is crucial
for mechanics or workshops to be on top of their game
and remain competitive.
“Automotive parts are no longer individual components
that function independently. As technologies progress,
automotive components become more and more complex; and
these components now function within a system and
network. Fault finding, as well as repair and service of
these components, has become increasingly difficult and
it now requires the assistance of ECU diagnostics
tools,” Sed revealed, adding that Bosch’s response to
this need is the Bosch Automotive Training Centers.
Sed also
added that these training centers (the regional center
is in Malaysia, while other satellite centers are in
Bangkok, Jakarta and Manila—the Philippine Automotive
Technical Training Center (PATTC) that was inaugurated
in 2006 on Kamagong Street—can impart advanced
automotive-systems know-how to the mechanics and
workshops of the future.
Under
the agreement, Don Bosco’s automotive instructors will
undergo intensive training at the PATTC.
International-standard training modules will be provided
by Bosch during the first phase, followed by a
nationwide dissemination of certificate courses through
Don Bosco’s 13 training centers. In the succeeding
phases of the nationwide rollout, the theory portion of
the training series will be conducted in Don Bosco
centers while the practical (or hands-on) portion will
be accommodated at the Bosch facility. Courses to be
offered will focus mainly on diesel fuel-injection
technology, including operation, diagnosis,
troubleshooting and testing. |
