On the Employability of Senior High School Graduates in the Philippines: Evidence from the Labor Force Survey

To gain insights into the employment prospects of Senior High School (SHS) graduates, Orbeta et al. (2019) gathered perspectives through interviews with graduating SHS students and human resource managers. Building on these insights, the present study advances the discussion by analyzing the actual labor market performance of SHS graduates. Entry into the labor market is considered one of the possible exits for SHS graduates. Given that the first batch of SHS students graduated in April 2018, this study utilizes eight rounds of the Labor Force Survey conducted from July 2018 to April 2020. It compares the labor market outcomes of SHS graduates (Grade 12) with those of their peers—Grade 10 and second-year college completers. To improve comparability, it uses a multivalued treatment effect estimation method (i.e., Inverse Probability Weighting with Regression Adjustment), with educational attainment as the treatment variable and individual and household characteristics as the propensity score and regression adjustment variables. The findings reaffirm those of the earlier study: Only a small proportion (just over 20%) of SHS graduates enter the labor force, while the majority (over 70%) continue their education. The estimations also find mixed results, with SHS graduates sometimes performing better and sometimes poorer than their peers in terms of labor market outcomes. These results suggest the need to recognize and reexamine the employment and entrepreneurial objective of the SHS program, given the expressed and realized propensity of SHS graduates to pursue further education rather than enter the labor market. This also underscores the importance of continually assessing and validating the effectiveness of the work preparation component of the SHS curriculum. Furthermore, continued engagement with employers through information sharing and demonstrations of SHS graduates’ skills is essential to help define an appropriate niche for them in the labor market. Finally, this study calls for sustained monitoring and the generation of empirical evidence to deepen the understanding of the role SHS graduates play in the labor market.