MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews/26 August) — State universities and colleges must coordinate with local government units on human resource development “in order to mitigate the pervading poverty incidence” in their regions, the Dean of the College of Teacher Education at the Bukidnon State University (BSU) said.
This was among the recommendations in the study of Dr. Beverly Bicar on human capital development in the Philippines and its implications to poverty alleviation.
The study showed a “strong linear relationship between the drop out rates in basic education and the poverty incidence in the different regions “signifying that poverty mitigation is crucial element of human capital development.”
Bicar also found that crucial in poverty alleviation is that the regional development framework is aligned with the program offerings of the higher educational institutions. She also noted that the alignment is also crucial with the LGUs provision of job opportunities for college and university graduates.
The findings were presented along with 12 other research works of the BSU research and development unit during the multi-stakeholder dissemination forum on August 22.
BSU’s researches, focused on the “Role of the Academe in Poverty Alleviation,” were clustered into education, science, socio-economic, and governance.
Bicar’s research ascertained how human development relates with poverty alleviation by analyzing the trends in basic and tertiary education in consonance with the prevailing poverty incidence in the country.
It also examined whether the human capital production in the poor regions of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao complements with the regional development agenda of the local governments.
“Gaining employment is fiercely competitive if not scarce, which further escalates the poverty problem even among those who obtained tertiary education,” the study showed.
It also noted that the high incidence of poverty in the country raises the question whether the “government’s effort to develop its human resources is adequate and effective.”
Bicar’s study concluded that the family’s financial capability accounts for the survival of students in basic education, that the responsiveness of the human resources to the regions’ developmental needs and the adequacy in job generation are significant factors of economic growth; and that the quantity and quality of human resources are strong determinants of poverty mitigation.
Napoleon Remonde, member of the National Anti-Poverty Commission regional council representing farmers, expressed the need for BSU’s research to focus on the local situation so that recommendations can be addressed by the local government.
Remonde, one of the sectoral representatives invited to the forum, hailed BSU’s researches but urged the university to focus also on the local scenario.
Dr. Joy Mirasol, director of BSU research and development unit, said the forum, done for the first time, was meant to validate with the community the findings of their researches.
She said the forum was held to initiate possible collaborative efforts in the future.
In 2010, BSU’s researches on climate change adaptation was 2nd runner up in the Commission on Higher Education’s Higher Education Research Program. (Walter I. Balane/MindaNews)
