PRC bares shortage of professionals

At least 10 industries are now facing severe shortage of professionals due to low number of board examinees, the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) said Thursday.

Citing PRC data from the past five years, PRC Commissioner Jennifer Manalili said in a media forum during the signing of a memorandum of agreement that the country in now facing an undersupply in some professions due the low turnout of students taking the needed courses.

These professions include optometry, nutrition and dietetics, guidance and counseling, social work, medical technology, pharmacy, library science, psychology, dentistry, and mining engineering.

Manalili said courses like nursing, education, and criminology remain oversubscribed since it remains a popular choice for students taking their college courses causing a worsening labor mismatch in the country.

“Over the years, the career choices of many of our students are guided by what is demanded for a particular year,” Manalili said.

“We are actually facing an extinction of miners mainly because only a few schools are offering the courses and much fewer students are choosing to enroll,” she added.

Board of Mining Engineering (BME) Chairman Cornelio Placido said this is an alarming trend since some of these industries compose most of the country’s revenue.

“Mining is one of the backbones of our economy, but as of now, there are only 2,050 mining engineers since the course was founded in 1910,” Placido said.

He said with the aging mining engineers and the declining number of students taking the course, the BME may not be able to supply the local demand for this profession.

By SAMUEL MEDENILLA
mb.com.ph

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