Importance of Work immersion

WITH all the aspects involved like economics, health and education, our country has been
experiencing big changes lately. For they say that change is only the constant thing in the world.

In terms of education, the Philippine educational system has been developed to provide the learner’s
the best. It happened the moment we changed our own curriculum system from the basic form to
widely use one – the K-12 curriculum. And just recently, the Department of Education (DepEd) has
released the guidelines for the conduct of work immersion activities for senior high school students in
the country.

Work immersion is a key feature in the Senior High School curriculum (SHS) and refers to the part of
that consists of 80 hours of hands-on experience or work simulation which Grades 11 and 12
students will undergo to expose them to the actual workplace setting and to enrich the competencies
provided by the school under the supervision of the School Head and the designated personnel of the
Partner. Work immersion is the counterpart of the internship programs in the tertiary level.

The said learning experience that the students can get from it which can range from 80 to 320 hours
will surely enable and help students as they familiarize themselves with the workplace thus
experience workplace simulation and apply their competencies in areas of specialization. The
completion of work immersion is a prerequisite to graduation under the K-12 program. This is a first
rate on the part of DepEd, since young people like to explore and to connect with the people, this
work immersion will provide them to acquire relevant skills by performing in actual work setting.

The importance of work immersion must be seen as vital point of giving students a venue to improve
themselves through experiencing real stuff first-hand. This is the very highlight of the Senior High
School program. It helps students to acquire knowledge and experience that can help them grow as
professional individuals.

Furthermore, this program provides opportunities to go through the actual methodologies of a specific
job using the real tools, equipment and documents. In effect, the work place becomes a development
venue for us student trainee to learn more about their chosen field and practice what we have learn
from academy.

Experience is considered to be one of life’s greatest teachers. As trainees they can use it as an
inspiration as they gain expertise in their respective fields. This experience will surely help them not
only for their present job as a student but also for their future job as a professional employee of this
society.
One of the goals of the K to 12 Basic Education Program is to develop in learners the competencies,
work ethic, and values relevant to pursuing further education and/or joining the world of work. To
achieve greater congruence between basic education and the nation’s development targets, Work
Immersion, a required subject, has been incorporated into curriculum. This subject will provide
learners with opportunities:

1. To become familiar with the work place;

2. For employment simulation; and
3. To apply their competencies in areas of specialization/applied subjects in authentic work
environments.

To achieve the above objectives, Work Immersion is thus a requirement for graduation from
secondary education. Learners are immersed in actual work environments such as workshops,
offices and laboratories in which their prior training is relevant.

These guidelines were formulated based on the rich experiences of modelling schools, tech-voc
school, partnership focal persons, industries partners, and youth development advocates. These
guidelines can provide process support to field offices of the Department of Education (DepEd) in
fostering relationships and strengthening partnership so that the learners will have access to suitable
work immersion venues and other related resources.