Over 1,126 OFWs took the next step for their careers as they converged in a 3-day examination period for the annual Special Professional Licensure Examination held at The Philippine Global School in Abu Dhabi last August 11-13.
Nurses topped the numbers of examinees with 381 aspirants, followed by teachers at 201. Here are the rest of the numbers:
Architecture: 99
Certified Public Accountants: 98
Civil Engineers: 75
Master Plumbers: 53
Registered Electrical Engineers: 38
Registered Master Electricians: 30
Electronics Engineers: 26
Psychometricians: 26
Veterinarians: 18
Electronics Technicians: 17
Mechanical Engineers: 17
Radiologic Technologists: 12
Chemical Engineers: 8
Respiratory Therapists: 8
Dentists: 7
Environmental Planners: 6
Physical Therapists: 5
Midwife: 1
Smooth flow
Juanita Domogen, head of delegation from the Professional Regulation Commission for this year’s SPLE in Abu Dhabi praised the efforts of the Philippine Professional Organization – UAE (PPO-UAE) as they coordinated with the Philippine Embassy as well as the Philippine Overseas Labor Office both from Abu Dhabi and Dubai in ensuring that the examinations have a smooth flow.
“They are our partners para matuloy itong SPLE sa Abu Dhabi. They are an organization na talagang gusto yung mga kasama nila dito ay maging professional talaga at magkaroon ng magandang trabaho. Imagine – they are conducting their peer reviews for that purpose – gusto nilang umangat ang estado ng Pinoy na mga nandito,” said Domogen.
Judith Tenorio, head of the PPO-UAE for 2019 shares that the PPO-UAE takes pride in mentioning that they have continuously enjoyed ‘clean’ examinations – meaning that there have been no leakages or incidents of cheating in any profession.
“We are all represented by different organizations. The United Arab Emirates have catered from 300 examinees in 2009, and now we have 1126 examinees this 2019. Composed of marshals, volunteers, to make the examination as clean as possible so that there will be no issues,” shared Tenorio.
Challenges in climate conditions
One concern that Domogen pointed out is the heat that permeated through several rooms of the venue. “For the first day of the examinations, yung init grabe – pati yung mga examinees may problema sa venue kasi mainit ang classrooms,” said Domogen.
Tenorio addressed the issue by having equipment and volunteers ready to fix air conditioning units but she also acknowledged that there are circumstances that are out of their control. She however, stated that whatever they do in each room is monitored and approved by the PRC: “We have standby electricians, engineers and volunteers to make sure that each room of the examinees is taken care of to ensure that they’re comfortable. There are rooms we cannot control because of some things that might happen – some air-conditioning may have problems but anything we have to do in the examination area has to be approved by the PRC.”
10 years of upskilling Filipinos in the UAE
Through the years, the SPLE in the UAE has grown from exams for 6 professions to 17 distinct fields of specialization. Engr. Antonio Morales, who spearheaded the initiative to bring the SPLE in the UAE way back in 2009, shared that the insight behind bringing the SPLE here in the UAE is to make it more convenient for Filipinos who aim to upskill and earn their license so that they wouldn’t have to head back home anymore just to take the exams.
“The benefit for taking the licensure exam here in UAE is to help our fellow Filipino overseas professionals that instead of taking the examination back home, they will spend time, money and they don’t have much time because that’s supposed to be their vacation time with their family. Yung iba dito, lalo na mga teachers some of them as work as domestic helpers – once they pass the examination, they can now find new jobs to increase their salary and upgrade their professional status,” shared Morales.
Following last year’s trend, results for the SPLE usually begin to be published around one month after the examinations have concluded – which means the first batch of results are set to be released around mid September.
Peer reviews for those aiming to take the SPLE 2020 are conducted by their respective organizations, some of which are for free, as early as September with the initial applications to take the following year’s exams starting January.
