Gov’t to enhance PHL forestry education

The Philippine Board of Foresters intends to help improve further the quality of forestry education in the country.
This will enable Filipino foresters more effectively contribute towards promoting environmental and natural resources protection, conservation and rehabilitation.
In a report on its programs, the Board highlighted the need for boosting the country’s BS Forestry curriculum to better help prepare students concerned for such environmental challenges.
“To cope with demands of the forestry sector, forestry educational institutions must respond appropriately through changes in their curriculum,” the report noted.
BS Forestry is offered in over 50 schools nationwide with “only a little more than 10 schools offering quality education,” it said, citing several factors as basis for such findings.
Such factors are the schools’ respective curriculum, facilities, infrastructure and graduates’ performance in forestry licensure examinations.
“National passing average in the foresters licensure examinations is 35 percent,” the report noted.
It likewise pointed out the decline in Philippine forest cover, government’s forestry-related policies and institutionalization of the National Greening Program (NGP) raise need for more better-trained and qualified foresters nationwide.
“As of 2012, it’s estimated that more than 5,000 foresters are employed in the Philippines,” the report noted.
They are mostly working for government particularly Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), it said.
DENR earlier cited need for more foresters, noting that forest land accounts for about half of the Philippines’ total area of 30 million hectares.
The Board assured continuing to serve as member of the Technical Panel of Forestry under Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to help revise the Philippine forestry curriculum.
CHED is the agency having jurisdiction over higher learning institutions across the country.
By serving as member of the technical panel, the Board likewise targets helping monitor performance of forestry schools across the country.
To help further enhance forestry education, the Board decided partnering with Philippine Forestry Education Network (PFEN), an organization of forestry schools across the country.
The Board is optimistic its partnership with PFEN will help improve performance of the schools’ graduates in the foresters licensure examination.