A concept paper on the proposed Training for work scholarship program on the Arabic language program:
1. Rationale:
Currently the Philippines is beset by a number of problems which is most pronounced by lack of jobs in the country. Middle East plays a vital role in the economic survival of the Philippines. It accounts for most of our of oil to run vital industries in the country; at present it is the largest single employer of OFW’s- 3.5 million of them. The last remaining avenue being working abroad is working as overseas contract workers. At the rate that the economy is going, the country will never cease as a labor exporting country in the next thirty (30) years. However, if we will not institutionalize some measures that will ensure the sustainability of our edge over our competitors, we might lose this labor opportunity in the next ten years. Right now in the Middle East we are experiencing the surge in number of skilled Pakistani Bangladeshi’s, Indonesians, Indians, Indonesians among others and their edge over the Filipino worker is that they speak Arabic. Most of our employers in the Middle east don’t speak English but speak only Arabic. Most of the legal cases involving Filipinos stems from cultural and linguistic differences due to the language barrier. If we want to sustain our labor niche in the next scores of years, study of the Arabic language should be a must for the OFW who intend to work in the Middle East. In addition to this, the raison de etre of the geopolitical importance of the Middle East why Arabic is made one of the major languages spoken in United Nations which makes it a prime reason why budding diplomats brush up to learn Arabic as an additional language.
2. An overview of the Middle East labor market
i. Economic factors
Records indicate that one of the largest job markets in the country is working abroad. According to statistics a large chunk of Manpower is still the Middle East and considering that the salaries are paid in US dollars, the bigger incentive for the workers to focus their destination in the Middle East. This is enough justification for the government to focus on equipping the Filipino OFW with an sufficient command of the Arabic language.
ii. Manpower distribution
According to a 2000 report by the Commission on Filipino Workers that around 2.98 million are overseas Filipino workers in the Middle East and that roughly half these numbers (1.94 million) are classified as undocumented.[1]
As overseas migration had absorbed a significant amount of labor; most of these emigrants were workers engaged in contract work in the Middle East and to a lesser extent elsewhere. Although some were professionals, majority were in production, construction and equipment workers or operators. As well as service workers….Inasmuch as wage paid for overseas contract work have been a multiple of what Filipinos could earn at home , such opportunities have been in great demand2[2]
Looking from a vantage point of view in a survey conducted by an international NGO last 2004; the data on the overseas Filipino workers (OFW’s) taken from April to September 2004 has shown that in such a short time the numbers of OFW’s has increased to 1.06 million and among the 820 Thousand OFW’s, the largest number was Saudi Arabia with 29.3 % showing that Saudi Arabia remains the favorite destination of Male OFW’s (172 Thousand) of which 33.4% are laborers and unskilled workers3[3]
iii. Government and legal factors
The government’s response here is the formation of the Overseas Workers Welfare Authority (OWWA) as well as other line agencies that cater to the legal and other domestic needs of the OFW’s. Another is the Pre-departure orientation seminar which in one day tries to jam-pack the needed information to acquaint workers with
the dos and don’ts in the Middle East. However, due to inability to understand the complex culture in the Middle East, the Workers are faced with a number of factors among them domestic abuse and salary delays for our workers at times resulting to incarceration for various infractions of the law.
3. Proposed beneficiaries
i. Target market
The target market are those who desire to be employed in the Middle east or those who have an interest in learning the active and practical use of the Arabic language..
ii. Survey of Institutions offering Arabic language instruction:.
In a brief survey conducted by the Institution to determine the presence of other co-institutions offering said language, it has been noted that the only institutions that offer Arabic instruction in Metro Manila are classified into several categories:
Thus in a nutshell it can be seen that no technical institution is available to offer the much needed instruction in Arabic Language as well as an introduction to Middle East culture and traditions
c. customer profile:
The target market of the AABC crash course in Arabic are probable job applicants to the Middle East as well as those who are in the process of applying for a job in the Middle East and those students who are enrolled in courses that are the types of jobs needed in the Middle East. The profiles of the target market of the school during
its initial course of operation are as follows:
Ø About 90% of its market is between the ages of 18-28.
Ø They are both male and female.
Ø majority comes from middle and lower middle class families many have average IQ and are technically inclined
Ø Majority of them lives in Quezon City and the surrounding areas.
4. Desired Government Interventions:
As the continued development of the labor market continues, its impact on the country’s economy becomes more significantly profound. Thus it is indeed safe to say that within the next five decades to come the country will still rely heavily upon OFW remittances to sustain the economy and increase its gross domestic product (GDP). The government as a standard policy then must create mechanisms to ensure that the growing trend of the Philippine economy must be addressed. From a Vantage viewpoint, as the middle East being a prime destination of OFW’s and Arabic being the medium of communication in that part of the globe, there appears to be a need of the government to support efforts in the creation of training programs in the Arabic language for overseas contract workers. A viable program would be the creation of a TWSP in Arabic to ensure that our ofw’s bound for the Middle East would be able to be fully prepared for the language and cultural conditions in the said destination.
5. Availability of Arabic Training Centres:
As of the moment, there are language training centers that focus either on the classical or the colloquial language and the majority of them appear unacceptable to our OFW’s as the duration and the charges are quite unaffordable. As of the moment, there is only “one” TESDA accredited Arabic language training centre which is based in Quezon City, The Asian Academy of Business and Computers which offers the crash course in Arabic for six weeks at ten thousand pesos (PhP 7,000.00)
6. Training Needs Analysis (TNA)
A look at the current Pre-Departure Orientation Seminar would show that the one day PDOS would be insufficient consider the new environment and culture that would force them to situate within. Thus a longer period would be required to ensure that they would be able to learn and yet it wouldn’t be long enough that they would learn at a relatively average phase.
The contents of the ALC would include the following:
1. Introduction to Arabic and Islamic Culture
2. Introduction to Arabic Literacy
3. Five (5) Elements of the Arabic language
a. Listening
b. Reading
c. Pronunciation
d. Vocabulary
e. Conversational
4. Practical application and evaluation
Students will be then subjected to a rigid evaluation exam to ensure that they have thoroughly learned all the skills necessary for the course.
7. Conclusion
As such the Implementation of a TWSP in Arabic would ensure that would ensure that OFW’s being sent to the Middle east would not only be linguistically prepared but also culturally ready to meet the cultures, traditions and environmental concerns faced by our workers in the Middle East.
8. References
Data on OFW statistics:
Migration News (http://migration.ucdavis.edu/ MN/more.php?id=827_0_3_0)
Saudi Arabia is Bangladesh’s largest foreign labor market, accounting for
nearlyn720,000……Bangladesh working abroad ,……….the Philippines
would also like to upgrade the skills of the migrant workers that it sends
abroad both to increase remittances but also to prevent exploitation. There
are about …….4 million employed abroad.(Para. 4, 7)
Overseas Filipino workers:
http://seasite.niu.edu/Tagalog/Modules/Modules/PhilippineEconomics/ofws
.htm :
The commission on Filipino Workers(2000) report that:…..of the 7.29 M
overseas Filipino Workers….2.98 million are overseas Filipino workers
…….1.94 million are classified as undocumented. The Top
…….destination for overseas Filipino workers…are Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia…..(para 3)
2004 Survey on Overseas Filipinos (SOP)
www.census.gov.ph/data/pressrelease/2005/of04tx.htm/
overseas Filipino workers (OFW’s) in April to Sept 2004 reached 1.06
million….among the 820 Thousand OFW’s, the largest number was Saudi
Arabia with 29.3 %....Saudi Arabia remained the favorite destination of
Male OFW’s (172 Thousand) of which …….33.4%.........were laborers and
unskilled workers
Philippines: Labor Force and Employment:
www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-10464.html
Overseas migration absorbed a significant amount of labor……….most
emigrants were workers engaged in contract work in the Middle East and
to a lesser extent elsewhere. Although some were professionals, majority
were in production, construction and equipment workers or operators. As
well as service workers….Inasmuch as wage paid for overseas contract
work have been a multiple of what Filipinos could earn at home , such
opportunities have been in great demand.( Para 8)
[1] Overseas Filipino workers:
http://seasite.niu.edu/Tagalog/Modules/Modules/PhilippineEconomics/ofws.htm :
The commission on Filipino Workers(2000) report that:…..of the 7.29 M overseas Filipino Workers….2.98 Middle East
million are overseas Filipino workers in the Middle East 1.94 million are classified as undocumented. The Top
…….destination for overseas Filipino workers…are Kingdom of Saudi Arabia…..(para 3)
[2] 2 http:www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-10464.html
Overseas migration absorbed a significant amount of labour……….most emigrants were workers engaged in
contract work in the Middle East and to a lesser extent elsewhere. Although some were professionals, majority
were in production, construction and equipment workers or operators. As well as service workers….Inasmuch
as wage paid for overseas contract work have been a multiple of what Filipinos could earn at home , such
opportunities have been in great demand.( Para 8)
[3] 3 2004 Survey on Overseas Filipinos (SOP)
www.census.gov.ph/data/pressrelease/2005/of04tx.htm/
overseas Filipino workers (OFW’s) in April to September 2004 reached 1.06 million….among the 820 Thousand
OFW’s, the largest number was Saudi Arabia with 29.3 %....Saudi Arabia remained the favorite destination of
Male OFW’s (172 Thousand) of which …….33.4%.........were laborers and unskilled workers
