NCAE to replace NCEE for 1.8M HS seniors

FAILURE to cope with the rigorous demands of a job may have its roots in one's academic training and personal capacities, in this, education officials have proposed the National Career Assessment Examination (NCAE) a mandatory test to this year's 1.8M fourth year high school students. Unlike the National College Entrance Examinations, which measured general scholastic ability, the NCAE focuses on technical and vocation capabilities, as well as entrepreneurial skills, said Education Secretary Jesli Lapus recently.

The NCEE them was abolished during the time of former Education Secretary Raul Roco. "This is different from NCEE because what was being measured in the NCEE is the general scholastic ability while the NCAE will measure two more domains: technical vocational aptitude and entrepreneurial," Lapus said. Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said the seniors from both public and private schools this year are to take the mandatory examinations on December 12.

The test should be able to allow students, parents and teachers to address the issue of "job skills mismatch" in the country, he added. "Job skills mismatch is major challenge right now. A large number of trained graduates are left unemployed or underemployed because they do not fit the requirements of the job market,'' Lapus said.

The education secretary said that the NCAE will be mandatory for all fourth-year students but the first two years of its implementation will not be a prerequisite for admission to college. However, on the third year, students from both public and private schools must pass the NCAE before they can enter college. He added that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is set to issue an executive order that would make the NCAE mandatory. Lapus said the new examination was designed as a result of study conducted by joint technical working group of Department of Education, Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) and the Technical Educational Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

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