No job crisis for Pinoy engineers, architects in Qatar –CHED chair

The Philippine government has allayed fears of some 12,000 Filipino engineers and architects in Qatar regarding the education requirement of their host country that may result in them losing their jobs.
The education equivalency challenge arose due to Qatar's strict implementation of its law requiring engineers and architects to register with the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning (MMUP).
Earlier report said Filipino engineers and architects failed to register because of the Supreme Education Council’s requirement of a 12-year basic education, or a total of 16 years of education for registering professionals in Qatar.
According to Commission on Higher Education (CHED) chair Patricia Licuanan, there is no truth to reports that Filipino engineers and architects who failed to register with MMUP on or before January 31, 2016 will lose their jobs.
"There is no real crisis. People are not about to lose their jobs," said Licuanan, who flew to Doha over the weekend together with representatives from the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) to personally seek clarification over the issue.
While in Qatar, Licuanan and the PRC representatives met with officials from the Qatar Supreme Education Council and Qatar's Minister of Education.
Licuanan said during their meeting, it was learned that what the Qatari government was asking from the engineers and architects are as follows:
1. That the school where they graduated is accredited by the Supreme Education Council;
2. That they pass the Philippine Professional Regulation Commission licensure examination; and
3. That they pass the board exam given by Supreme Education Council in Qatar.
Licuanan said if ever a Filipino engineer or architect loses his or her job in Qatar, it's because of cost-cutting measures implemented by the company related to the downtrend in oil prices, and not because of the new requirements.
There are 172,000 OFWs in Qatar, 23,000 of whom are professionals; 86,000 are highly-skilled; 30,000 are semi- or low-skilled; and 30,000 household service workers, according to Philippine government data.
The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration has recorded an increase of 19,362 in Qatar job orders from 85,510 in 2014 to 104,872 in 2015. —KBK, GMA News

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