As the demand for specialized competencies in various industries rises, courses on specific skills and competencies are available to allow learners and professionals gain the qualifications needed by the major industries, thus boosting their employability.
The University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) is offering micro-credential courses meant to bridge the gap between what the academe provides and what the industry needs.
“Micro-credentials empower learners and professionals to thrive in a rapidly changing world and that universities can start such a program by building on their existing capabilities,” UPOU Chancellor Melinda dela Peña Bandalaria said in a recent pre-conference workshop for an international conference.
Dr. Joane Serrano, Dean of the UPOU Faculty of Management and Development Studies, underscored the need for universities to offer micro-credentials to help professionals retool themselves for career advancements and mobility in this new economic order.
“These credentials enable professionals to equip themselves for career advancement and increased mobility in the ever-evolving global economic landscape,” she said.
A micro-credential is proof that attests to a learner’s knowledge and skills in a particular subject or area. A learner receives a micro-credential after passing an assessment or successfully completing and passing the required assessment in a particular micro-course.
As stipulated in the launched Roadmap to Micro-credentials, such bite-sized courses on specific skills and competencies are expected to be relevant, focused, assessment-based, portable, flexible and quality-assured.
UPOU micro-credential can also be classified based on scope of learner’s participation, stackability and “creditability”, purpose related to lifelong learning, varied delivery format and qualification and flexibility pathway for crediting.
