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Bacolod City, PhilippinesWednesday, September 26, 2012
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Editorial

The more needed courses

Daily Star logo
Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.
NINFA R. LEONARDIA
Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ
Editor

CHERYL CRUZ
Desk Editor
PATRICK PANGILINAN
Busines Editor

NIDA A. BUENAFE

Sports Editor
RENE GENOVE
Bureau Chief, Dumaguete
MAJA P. DELY
Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA
Administrative Officer

The report from the Professional Regulation Commission that more and more Filipino college students are taking courses that do not seem to be popular is very encouraging. This means that students graduating from high school are now realizing that they could have better chances, not only of landing jobs upon graduation from college, but also of being more successful in them.

The PRC calls these fields “unsubscribed” professions. It also expressed the hope that more and more students opt to take them up because the more popular ones now appear to be crowded, so there are less opportunities for the new ones coming in.

Shortly after World War II, thousands of students were taking up teaching courses, not only because there was a need for teachers, but also because more local schools were offering the course leading to Bachelor of Science in Education or in Elementary Education. Then there seemed to be a rush for business courses, and, again, thousands of high school graduates were flocking to colleges offering degrees of Bachelor of Science in Commerce.

When some local colleges and universities qualified to offer law courses, hundreds also took up the course, especially because classes were held after regular office hours, making it ideal for those who already held bachelor’s degrees, but wanted to pursue another course.

We all know what happened when nursing became very popular, with several foreign countries looking to the Philippines to supply their hospitals with well-trained and English-speaking nurses. A glut of nursing graduates soon developed and high school graduating students had to look elsewhere for more practical choices.

But the recent development in such courses as medical technology, veterinary science, chemical engineering, dentistry, optometry, shows that we are getting more professionals in other fields. Of interest to note, however, is the observation that we need more mining engineers, psychologists, social workers, nutritionists and optometrists. Of course there is also a dearth of meteorologists and volcanologists, that we now need so badly in the light of the effects of climate change.

Prospective college students should, therefore, take a cue from this.*

Email: visayandailystar@yahoo.com