The Philippine Senate has approved on third and final reading a bill allowing work experience to be considered for college accreditation.
Senate Bill No. 2568 or the proposed Expanded Tertiary Education Equivalency and Accreditation Program (ETEEAP) Act received unanimous approval from 23 senators.
It seeks to help working professionals earn degrees through alternative methods, removing barriers to their career growth.
According to Senator Emmanuel Joel J. Villanueva, who steered the passage of the bill, the ETEEAP’s purpose is to “allow and empower persons who had to start working immediately, to be able to have their working experiences and prior learnings recognized and given equivalent credits for tertiary education.”
To avail of the program, applicants must be a Filipino citizen residing in the Philippines or abroad, who are at least 23 years old, and have at least five years of work experience in an industry.
A high school diploma is also required; otherwise, they need to provide a result of Philippine Educational Placement Test or Alternative Learning System Accreditation and Equivalency Assessment and Certification to prove that they are qualified to enter college.
Villanueva said he looks forward to seeing 3,000 applicants complete the program each year.
“Every experience we have teaches us a lesson, the concept of lifelong learning, which is clearly evident in ETEEAP,” he said.
