THE Commission on Higher Education (CHED) on Thursday said that it might close down popular courses being offered by higher education institutions (HEIs)—accounting, education and nursing—next year.
A memorandum issued by the commission in September 2010 said that starting school year 2011-2012, there would be a moratorium on the offering of five programs: nursing, teacher education, information technology, business administration and hotel and restaurant management (HRM).

According to a highly reliable source, the plan may be implemented for the coming school year 2012-2013 to stem the sheer number of students taking these courses—students who, unfortunately, end up without jobs after graduation.

This year, 78,513 nursing graduates took the board examinations. Fewer than half—37,513 examinees—passed, according to the Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC), which administered the tests.

In 2009, a record 88,649 nursing graduates took the board examinations, but only 39,455 passed.

Education faces a similar situation. This year, there were 33,023 examinees for elementary education. The passing rate was an abysmal 15 percent—only 5,221 passed. 29,267 aspiring high school teachers also took the PRC tests in 2011, but only 7,690 passed—a mere 26.80 percent.

A CHED official, who did not want to be identified because she had no authority to talk about the matter, said that the commission needed to stop schools from offering these courses because of the huge number of graduates who compete for such few jobs.

The Department of Labor and Employment had said that the government would focus on courses that would lead to jobs after graduation.

The official added that the commission would also crack the whip, so to speak, on some HEIs found guilty of gross and serious violations, as well as continuous defiance of the commission’s policies, standards and guidelines.

The source, however, declined to identify the erring HEIs so as not to derail the administrative, civil and criminal action being prepared against these schools and their officials.

Earlier, CHED closed down two maritime degree programs of the Philippine Maritime Institute because of the school’s alleged failure to meet government standards, as well as its low passing rate and poor quality of education.

In October, it also ordered the closure of six sub-standard programs at Harvardian College in San Fernando City, Pampanga province, because of violations and failure to follow standards and guidelines.

Too many graduates
In its earlier memorandum imposing the moratorium on the offering of the five courses, CHED said that there were too many HEIs offering undergraduate and graduate programs in nursing, education, business administration and HRM.

It added that the moratorium was needed to strengthen these courses and turn out quality graduates.

The commission noted that the poor performance of graduates was seen in the results of licensure examinations for teachers and the nursing board.

Several government officials earlier warned of a job mismatch, since many students were taking courses that offered few employment opportunities. This situation has prompted the Labor department to propose the mounting of an information campaign so that parents and students will know what courses offer good job opportunities.