An Inquiry Into the Importance of the Link Between Philippine Industrial Policy and the High School Stem Track

This paper is an initial attempt to emphasize the imperative of the link between the country's industrial policy and the secondary education's Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics or STEM track as necessary for Philippine economic development. Such interconnection reveals why there is a job-skills mismatch between STEM track graduates and actual industry needs. This study utilized comparative content analysis of curricula by juxtaposing the country's high school STEM track with those of industrialized and economically developed countries (e.g. South Korea, India, Japan) secondary education curricula. Initial results show that the secondary education curricula in more developed countries embed actual theoretical and practical skills as required per sector (e.g. in South Korea's curriculum, there is a foundational course on Industrial Chemistry and a practical course on Chemical Materials Management, Maintenance and Operation of Chemical Processes, Plastic Products Manufacturing, etc. for those who want to specialize in Chemical Engineering) as compared with the Philippines' high school STEM curriculum which is relatively broad and not sector- or industry-specific. Also, industrialized countries' secondary education curricula are more advanced in terms of topical coverage and competencies (e.g. a stand-alone subject on artificial intelligence in the curriculum of India), making Filipino STEM track graduates below par. This comparative conceptual exploration will provide policy recommendations on how the Philippines' high school STEM curricula can be improved as well as other related policy insights that link education with economic development.