By: Dr. Rex Casiple
THE Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) Board of Electrical Engineering announced that a total of 3,285 out of 4,891 examinees nationwide, or 67.16%, passed the Electrical Engineer Licensure Examinations given in ten (10) testing centers nationwide in August 2019.
The University of Saint La Salle (USLS) from the Western Visayas Region ranked No. 1 in the national-level among schools with 10 to 24 examinees and with at least 80% passing percentage. In 186 schools nationwide, 3,155 out of 4,046, or 77.98% of the first takers passed. One hundred thirty (130) out of 845 or 15.38% of the re-takers passed.
In the Regional level, 4 engineering schools in Western Visayas out of 11, or 36.36%, performed high or with a passing percentage higher than that of the national level: two (2) in Iloilo City, one (1) in Bacolod City and one (1) in Aklan.
High performing engineering schools from the Region with 10 or more examinees are University of Saint La Salle (100% passing), ISAT University (82.76% passing) and Garcia College of Technology (72.73% passing). University of Saint La Salle has fifteen (15) examinees.
One (1) out of 4 high performing engineering schools, or 25%, is a state university while three (3), or 75%, are private higher education institutions (PHEIs). The Region produced 188 passers out of 294 takers, or 63.95% passing percentage. This is lower than that of the national passing percentage. There were 246 first takers and 48 repeaters who took the said examination.
The first takers passing percentage is 73.58%. This is lower than the first takers’ national passing percentage. The repeaters’ passing percentage is 14.58%. Likewise, this is lower than the repeaters’ national passing percentage.
Electrical Engineering is a branch of engineering that deals with electricity fueled technology. Under the new engineering curricula, the Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering (BSEE) is a 4-year baccalaureate degree program.
Skills needed for an electrical engineer includes analytical, critical thinking, creativity, interpersonal, mathematics, technical, among others.
Some of the common jobs for licensed Electrical Engineers are Site Electrical Engineer, Construction and Project Engineer/Manager, Educator and/or Researcher, Electrical Consultant, Electrical Design Manager, Electrical Systems Software Developer, Maintenance Engineer, Power Plant Manager, Technopreneuror Sales Engineer, among others.
The monthly salary of an electrical engineer in the Philippines varies from Php20,000 to Php770,000 depending upon the position, the nature of job assignment and the number of years’ experience. Electrical engineers high paying skills include Engineering Design and Project Management.
There are lots of job opportunities abroad for graduates of BS in Electrical Engineering. Filipino electrical engineers are in demand in other countries, such as, in Singapore, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Brunei, Malaysia, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain.
In the Philippines, many factories, firms and power plants are not enough to cater engineers who are ready to practice their professions. As a result, many engineers, including those who didn’t pass in the licensure examinations are sometimes forced to choose jobs that are not related to their field or profession.
In the next decade, there are identified major challenges in all engineering professions in the country. There is a need to educate our engineers including that in the other developing or under-developed countries. Engineers in these countries must learn new ways to solve problems; to promote green engineering to improve sustainability and reduce the carbon footprint in manufacturing, and the need to identify viable alternative energy sources.
