By PRINCE GOLEZ
Manila Reporter
ILOILO — Ilongga senator Miriam Defensor–Santiago wants to protect job applicants, especially high school graduates, from discrimination due to their educational attainment.
Santiago filed Senate Bill 2290, which prohibits employers from declining any employment application because of educational achievement.
Any notices of advertisement suggesting educational preferences and specifications will be banned, the measure said.
Requiring a college degree from job applicants “for the sake of having them” is an “undue burden,” Santiago said.
High school graduates should not be discriminated because “many companies still require training for their new employees before the latter perform actual work,” she said.
The “High School Graduate Empowerment Act” also aims to put a stop to “diploma mill schools,” where a diploma can be easily brought.
“Higher level of education should be optional to everyone,” Santiago said. “It entails additional amount of investment from the family to send their children to universities.”
She believes that now that the country is implementing the K to 12 program, high school graduates are “more competent.”
The Senate bill directs the Department of Labor and Employment to promote programs that will enhance the knowledge and skills of individuals regardless of education./PN
