A TRACER STUDY OF DNAS GRADUATES’ AND THE EMPLOYERS’ PERSPECTIVE OF JOB PROFICIENCY

Education

The Davao National Agricultural School (DNAS) is Montevista’s top tier institution-based and community-based TESDA training provider in the Province of Davao de Oro. It began operations on June 10, 1954, as a Technical and Vocational School. When Republic Act 7796, also known as the TESDA Act of 1994, was enacted, institutions were reorganized under the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). One of the goals of DNAS is to enhance the employability of TVET graduates. To determine whether the institution is meeting this goal, it becomes necessary to conduct tracer studies regularly. This study aimed to answer the following major questions: What is the profile of the employed graduates of DNAS from the year 2021 to 2024, what is the employment profile of these employed graduates and what is the level of job proficiency of employed graduates based on employers’ perception? This study was descriptive in its design. Its data gathering technique was mainly through a survey. There were two groups of respondents for this study: the 100 employed graduates using purposive sampling of DNAS during the years 2021 and 2024 and 50 employers representing the business establishments where the graduates have found themselves working. All the data gathered were analyzed using descriptive statistics, percentages, and mean. Major findings of this study were; a typical graduate of DNAS during the years 2021 and 2024 is a female, aged 24-26, single and are college graduates prior to enrollment in their chosen programs, and with a qualification of NC II across all the four sectors offered by DNAS; Thirty-two percent of the respondents are self-employed. Forty- two percent of the respondents waited for at most 0-3 months before getting their first job; modal monthly salary of the respondents was P5, 000 and below; the most common means of finding job opportunities was through relatives and colleagues; present job was highly related to training for forty-two percent of the respondents; the most-cited reason for irrelevance of job to training was the absence of job opportunities related to specialization; communication, knowledge-theoretical and practical, problem-solving and entrepreneurial skills were skills perceived to be most useful in performing job; Seventy-nine percent of the respondents were satisfied with their job; the most common cited cause of job dissatisfaction was low income; the employers’ perspective of DNAS graduates in terms of the skills and competencies were within at the “agree” range, which being found graduates adequately trained for practical, hands-on task in the industry and consistently apply industry safety standards and regulation; in terms of workplace readiness graduates could perform well under pressure and when working with tight deadlines and could demonstrate initiative and problem-solving skills in real-world situations within the “agree” range; in terms of industry-specific skills, it was still in the “agree” range and found that they could adapt to new work situation and technological changes, could perform core technical tasks required for their job role and could troubleshoot and resolve issues specific to its field of work . Based on the analysis of the findings, the following conclusions were drawn; the training received by the graduates from DNAS adequately prepared them for work; there remains a need for further development of the programs of DNAS; the respondents demand enhancement of training skills and exposure to industries. It is recommended that the suggestions for improvement and intervention measures identified by both graduates and employers be adapted and implemented.

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