Relevance of Technical and Vocational Education and Training in the Employability of Computer Science Graduates

Abstract

Relevance of Technical and Vocational Education and Training in the Employability of Computer Science Graduates. Objectives: A study was conducted to determine the relevance of Technical Education and Skills Development National Certification in relation to the employment/employability of computer science graduates of Eastern Samar State University, Philippines. Methods: A descriptive-correlational design was used and data was analyzed through mean, frequency and percentage distribution. A null hypothesis was tested using Cramer’s V association method to determine if there exist a correlation. Findings: The results showed that most graduates were employed, a significant number were National Certificate II (NC II) competency test passers, and many considered “not being prepared” as the major hindrance for not taking the said exam. Conclusion: the majority of graduates found NC II to be important in securing their current job and Cramer’s V score showed strong correlation and rejected the null hypothesis. Based on these findings, it is recommended that efforts to improve graduates’ preparation for NC II exams should be continued or even intensified. Keywords: employability, technical and vocational education, computer science student Abstrak: Relevansi Pendidikan dan Pelatihan Teknik dan Kejuruan dalam Kemampuan Kerja Lulusan Ilmu Komputer. Tujuan: Sebuah studi dilakukan untuk menentukan relevansi Sertifikasi Nasional Pendidikan Teknis dan Pengembangan Keterampilan dalam kaitannya dengan kemampuan kerja lulusan ilmu komputer dari Eastern Samar State University, Filipina. Metode: Desain deskriptif-korelasi digunakan dan data dianalisis melalui rata-rata, frekuensi dan distribusi persentase. Hipotesis nol diuji menggunakan metode asosiasi Cramer's V untuk menentukan apakah ada korelasi. Temuan: Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa sebagian besar lulusan diterima bekerja, sebagian besar lulus uji kompetensi National Certificate II (NC II), dan banyak yang menganggap “tidak siap” sebagai kendala utama untuk tidak mengikuti ujian tersebut. Kesimpulan: Mayoritas lulusan menganggap NC II penting dalam mengamankan pekerjaan mereka saat ini dan skor V Cramer menunjukkan korelasi yang kuat dan menolak hipotesis nol. Berdasarkan temuan tersebut, direkomendasikan agar upaya peningkatan persiapan lulusan menghadapi ujian NC II terus dilanjutkan atau bahkan diintensifkan. Kata kunci: kemampuan kerja, pendidikan teknik dan vokasi, mahasiswa ilmu komputer. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23960/jpp.v13.i2.202338