by Stefan R. Saldon | October 11, 2022
Silliman University hosted and partnered with the Academe, Alumni, Industry, Government (AAIG) Caravan in promoting a space wherein graduates can easily transition from school to the ever-changing working industry.
Five guest speakers were invited to the caravan webinar, each tackling a topic connected to this year’s AAIG theme, “Strengthening Approaches Towards The Preferred Future.”
Industry speaker Suzanne Antoniette Lu-Bascara, Assistant VP and Site Director of Inspiro Relia Inc., highlighted the high unemployment rates of Central Visayas, standing at 8.04 percent compared to the national average of 6.37 percent.
“Quality education is often viewed as a stepping stone to employment. Yet year after year, graduating students face the daunting task of adapting to an ever-changing landscape of career and recruitment,” Don Timothy Buhain, Chief Executive Officer of Rex Education added.
Moreover, Lu-Bascara advocated for job opportunities through Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), sharing the industry’s 11 percent contribution to the country’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product). However, she recognized the skills gap present among graduated students and further advocated for their proper training.
In relation to the skills gap, the speakers of the AAIG explained the importance of a better educational system to provide students with the skills necessary to better adapt to the current Fourth Industrial Revolution, which focuses on data and rapid technological advancements.
Atty. Myrish Cadapan Antonio, an alum of SU and current Senior Director of the Fellowships And Global Initiatives Legatum Center at MIT, said that in order to achieve these goals, the different pillars of AAIG must collaborate since it “would be difficult or impossible to do independently.”
The AAIG Caravan webinar hosted by SU was held on Sept. 30, as the fourth leg of the caravan series around the Philippines, representing the Visayas region.
The event was a collaboration between SU, the University of Santo Tomas Alumni Association (USTAAI), the UST Graduate School Center for Continuing Professional Education and Development (UST CCPED), and Rex Education.
