Graduate Tracer Study of Bachelor of Secondary Education (BSEd) of St. Paul University Surigao College of Teacher Education 2013-2017

: This tracer study aimed to determine the employability and graduates' rating of their academic program from 2013 to 2017. It is a descriptive-quantitative survey utilizing the modified Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Graduate Tracer Study Questionnaire. Out of 95 Bachelor of Secondary Education (BSEd) graduates from 2013 to 2017, there were 76 who participated. The findings revealed that the graduates of BSEd have high employability, and most of them landed in the profession related to their undergraduate studies. Further, the results also showed that St. Paul University Surigao BSEd program was very effective in terms of quality teaching, student activities engagement, learning environment, and student support services. It signified that indicators were recognized and practiced in the institution to enhance the facilitation of the graduates' learning experience that is holistically and concretely responsive. This study recommended that the school continuously emphasize effective school leadership, academic program dynamic review, and professional development of the teachers that are pivotal in effective academic program implementation.


INTRODUCTION
Tracer study is an invaluable tool in maintaining and enhancing the marketability of educational programs (Woya, 2019).With the growing demands of the labor industry, the relevance of the educational curriculum becomes a crucial challenge for higher academic institutions.Higher education citadels must ensure that the programs provide knowledge and equip the graduates with the necessary skills and competencies to meet the increasing demand and qualifications for employment after their transition.The graduates' feedback using tracer study is a crucial tool for institutions to determine the employment characteristics of the graduates and their professional development.It also helps the academic institutions to have a retrospective evaluation of the relevance of the curriculum and the impact it created after transitioning their education into the labor market industry.
To narrow down the specificity of the objectives of the tracer study, it also intends to track the status of the individual students after the transition from education to entering the labor industry.Tracer studies are carefully and systematically designed to obtain information about their progress, work career, and competencies.It plays utmost importance when results from tracer studies target long-term and significant development intervention (Simister, 2017).The European Training Foundation (2017) provided three basic steps that are crucial in carrying out tracer studies.These steps involve conceptualization, collection of data, and analysis.
A study conducted by Manchishi et al. (2020) traced the experiences of a group of Postgraduate Distance Education Alumni of the University of Zambia.The study was based on the project of the UNZA-ZOU collaboration, which enrolled in 2014 and graduated in 2016.The study's findings unveiled that there were participants who were promoted to senior positions after training.Meanwhile, others retained their positions.The participants' views on the programs were positive in general, but there were few concerns from other participants regarding research supervision and the quality of instructional materials.The study has recommendations that were considered to conduct a mini-study that will focus on the views on the employers' programs.
In a similar view, Reusia et al. (2020) emphasized tracer study or graduate survey is one reliable indicator to assert the educational institution in providing holistic quality education and services.A study by Orlanda-Ventayen and Valencerina (2019) focuses on determining the employability rate of the Bachelor of Secondary Education graduates of Pangasinan University Lingayen

METHODS
In this study, the researchers used a descriptive-quantitative design that used a survey method to gather input and describe with respect for the graduate's demographic profile, employment status, retrospective evaluation in terms of quality teaching, student activities engagement, learning environment, and student support services; and the overall rating on their experience in their undergraduate studies of Bachelor of Secondary Education Program as to the outcomes based on CHED Memo 75 s.2017.
The participants involved in this research study were the 2013 to 2017 graduates of the Bachelor of Secondary Education who belong to the four-year curriculum program of the College of Education, Culture and Arts of St. Paul University Surigao.The researchers ensured that the results and findings would be done fairly and non-bias.Henceforth, non-probability sampling, specifically purposive sampling, was used in the study as the participants involved are the Bachelor of Secondary Education graduates from 2013 to 2017 as they correspond to the objective and interest of the study and based on their availability.
Out of 95 total graduates of the BSEd program from 2013 to 2017 at St. Paul University Surigao, the researchers were able to gather 76 participants, which comprised 80% of the total population.The names of the graduates were acquired from the university's Alumni Office.Nevertheless, the study did not require a fixed study site as the participants that would be involved are not all expected to be on the premises of or employed in Saint Paul University Surigao.It was considered that other participants may have been in other places, organizations, agencies, or anywhere.
Utilizing the modified Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Graduate Tracer Survey Questionnaire, the researchers employed the given survey questionnaire.The modified survey questionnaire includes four significant parts: demographic profile, employment status, graduates' rating of BSEd academic program, and overall rating of their program outcomes.A 4-point Likert Scale was utilized to identify the participants' agreement on various statements for the retrospective evaluation and overall rating on their experience in their undergraduate studies in the Bachelor of Secondary Education Program as to the outcomes based on CHED Memo 75 s.2017.
The researchers submitted a formal letter to the Dean of the College of Education, Culture and Arts Department for approval to conduct the study.The researchers secured a letter to the participants to ensure the safety and confidentiality of the data shared pertinent to the Data Privacy Act of 2012.After the letter was granted permission, the researchers administered the survey questionnaire to the participants of the study.Also, the researchers provided a request to the school Registrar's Office to validate the number of graduates; they also asked the Alumni Office to grant access to the school yearbook, which contains the basic profile of the Bachelor of Secondary Education program graduates from 2013 to 2017.
In achieving the primal objective of having the most reliable and appropriate results and findings on tracing the employability and graduates' rating for their academic program, the researchers employed the following statistical tools to treat and analyze the data: Frequency Count and Percentage Computation.These were used to determine the distribution in the demographic profile of the respondents.
Mean and Standard Deviation.These were used to determine the participants' responses as to how the school activities have impacted the graduates during their undergraduate studies.
Analysis of Variance (ANoVa).This tool was used to determine the significant difference in variance according to employment status and academic program.
Likert Scale.A 4-point Likert Scale was utilized to identify the participants' agreement on various statements.
The information provided by the participants would play a vital role in the results of this study.And, the manner of providing them with questionnaires one by one could have risked the validity of the statements and information that would be retrieved.The researchers ensured that the participants' responses, under no circumstance, should be influenced by the researchers.Prior to that, the researchers sought approval from the concerned persons, offices, and organizations to be involved in the conduct of the study.The participants' consent and confidentiality were of utmost priority to the researchers.Lastly, to assure transparency and establish mutual respect and cooperation, the researchers explicitly revealed the purpose of the study, its benefits, its advantages, and its risks.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The characteristics of the group sample in terms of age, sex, civil status, degree of specialization, year graduated, location of residence, professional examination passed, and highest educational studies are shown below in Table 3.Based on the given results from Table 4.1 on the employment history of the graduates as to who are presently employed, it can be seen that 74 (97.37%) answered yes, which means they are currently employed.In comparison, 2 (2.63%) answered no.As to their employment status, 61 (82.43%) are regular or permanent, 6 (8.11%) are self-employed, 3 (4.05%)are temporary, 2 (2.70%) belong to contractual, one (1.35%) for casual, and only one (1.35%) for job order.4.3 reveals the present occupation and type of workplace.It can be gleaned that the participants are currently working as junior high school teachers having the most numbered population, 49 or 64.47%; seven or 9.21% work as senior high school teachers, followed by 2 or 2.63% as business owners.Surprisingly, 2 or 2.63% also answered none who are in the case are unemployed, as revealed in Table 4.1.Only one or 1.32% worked as a college instructor, tutor, online seller, volunteer teacher, learning support assistant, service desk technical support, office staff, high school -subject team leader, fire officer, real estate developer, executive sales admin, ESL teacher, office clerk, web designer, BPO, and quality management director respectively.More than half of the participants, 56 or 75.68%, worked in the public sector, while 18 or 24.32% were in the private sector.It is worth noting that the total number of graduates working in the public and private are 74 as the remaining two (2) were unemployed as mentioned above.On the other hand, Table 4.4 shows the Job Relation to the Course, First Job, Reasons for Changing the First Job, and Reasons for Accepting the Job taken by the graduates.When the graduates were asked about their first job with the course, more than half, or fifty-nine (59) or 77.63%, answered that their first job was related to their Bachelor of Secondary Education program, and seventeen (17) or 22.37% said if not.
As for those who answered otherwise, their course was not related to their first job; it was revealed that four (4) or 23.53% worked as call center agents, three (3) or 17.65% were tutors, two (2) or 11.76% worked as public office assistants and clerks respectively.Surprisingly, two (11.76%)answered none, followed by only one (1) or 5.88% as a private office assistant, travel consultant, real estate developer, and science laboratory assistant correspondingly.Note that the answer "none" pertains to the literal answer of the graduates.
Meanwhile, regarding the reasons for changing the job, when responses are ranked, it unveiled that the primary reasons for changing the job are salaries and benefits, career challenges, and related to special skills (7 or 26.92%) individually, followed by proximity to distance (2 or 7.69%).Then security and stability, higher education, and none (1 or 3.85%), respectively.Note that the answer "none" pertains to the literal answer of the graduates.The answer none pertains to the literal answer of the participant.
In terms of accepting the first job, responses were ranked; their dominant answer was related to the course/skills (51 or 36.43%),followed by salaries and benefits (46 or 32.86%), and career challenge (27 or 19.29%).Others have also answered proximity to distance (8 or 5.71%), and some unexpectedly responded none (5 or 3.57%).Note that the answer "none" pertains to the literal answer of the graduates.They also answered for experience (2 or 1.43%) and adventure (1 or 0.71%).Lastly, Table 4.5 presents how long it took the participants to land their first job.It can be observed in the above-shown table that 28 (36.84%)took one (1) to six (6) months before landing a job, followed by 17 (22.37%)who took the job in less than a month, 11 (14.47%) in a year to less than two (2) years, 10 (13.16%) in seven (7) to 11 months, 5 (6.58%) in three (3) years to less than four (4) years, 3 (3.95%) in two (2) years less than three (3) years, and only one (1.32%) in seven (7) years and none, accordingly.Note that the answer "none" pertains to the literal answer of the graduates.given result only signifies that these indicators are recognized and practiced in the institutions to enhance the facilitation of the learning experience of the graduates that are concretely responsive and intensively contribute to the development of knowledge and skills critical for their course and future undertakings.Furthermore, it is paramount to the vision and mission of St. Paul University Surigao as the school envisages producing competent and responsible learners and becoming a preferred educational institution that holistically and transformatively nurtures the optimum potential of the students.In addition to this, it is underpinned by the UNESCO's General Education Quality Analysis Framework (GEQAF) core resources, which include the curriculum, learners, teachers, and learning environment, used in the framework of the study.The school's effective implementation of the Bachelor of Secondary Education curriculum packaged the general dimensions of the student's acquisition of knowledge, honed the vital skills stipulated in the context of the curriculum and future profession, and contributed to the formation of a positive attitude toward learning, equality, and mutual respect for every individual and all stakeholders.
Meanwhile, to ensure that knowledge and skills are imparted to the students necessary for their developing stage, teachers should ascertain how effectively they have achieved the competence and expertise in their lesson.It thrusts the teachers to build mastery of the subject and a repertoire of efficient pedagogical strategies and approaches necessary to successfully impart and assess the students' learning (Kalaw, 2016;Gonzales, 2019).For quality teaching with an average of 3.69, it can be gleaned that the graduates strongly agree that the teachers are very effective.Having been supported by descriptors of "exhibited expertise of the subject or course taught." With this huge bearing on implementing learning outcomes and the teachers' exposure to continual professional growth and development, it all proves that St. Paul University Surigao values the training of the educators.It intensifies and unlocks other potentials of the educators and is particular in deploying teachers as forerunners in curricular implementation.Presently, the teachers' workforce in the institution has achieved their highest educational studies contributing to their bank of knowledge and areas of discipline in delivering classroom instructions and performing their profession.Paulinian educators are master's and doctor's degree holders making them knowledge generators.They are at par with the demands and meet the required minimum standards regulated by the Department of Education and Commission on Higher Education, supplemented with a ceaseless joint effort of developmental and professional training.
The second indicator of student activities engagement can be seen favorably with an average of 3.47.It can be inferred from the participants' responses that during their undergraduate studies, they were active in various convergence that primarily contributed to the formation of a new set of knowledge and acquired skills, which are beneficial in developing their cognitive and leadership skills.And with the school's manual effort in molding the students to prepare them before transitioning to the labor workforce, the result also translates the effectiveness of the school in encouraging and promoting students' involvement in molding them to be resilient team-builders and professionals who are prepared to face challenging roles.It is also underpinned by Evangelista (2021) that these co-curricular activities crucially help with their employability; hence students should be aware of these opportunities and their importance.This view is in harmony with Villalobos et al. ( 2016), who state that co-curricular activity, even if not intrinsically part of the core curriculum, provides a crucial role in shaping well-rounded individuals.The highest involvement was described as having "participated in various seminars, leadership training, and symposia." Besides student activities engagement, the third indicator states the learning environment is equally important with a mean of 3.81.graduates strongly agree that the school's learning environment is very effective.Having been supported by the specific descriptors of "instilled the values of the Catholic teachings to become compassionate, competent learners and believers."Inarguably, the main task of higher education institutions is to generate capable graduates and possess skills that supply the labor workforce.However, character formation also speaks the plurality of importance in shaping character-oriented graduates and employees, regardless of cultural and religious differences.With this instilled, values have become critical to promoting professional graduates who embody the same ideals of school teaching.It ensures non-partisan to violent or hateful acts, fosters camaraderie with their peers and other professionals, and nurtures social responsibility and mutual respect for oneself and human dignity.Integrating character development and Catholic teachings in St. Paul University Surigao cultivate a niche for graduates to become morally upright and responsible professionals.
This viewpoint is consistent with Rasool (2018), who states that school is a powerful institution and a miniature society that molds the students holistically with the supervision of the teachers.On the other hand, student support services must continually complement and uplift the school's mission of providing a conducive learning space and program.With an average of 3.58, it implies that graduates strongly agree that the student support services of St. Paul University Surigao are very effective, observed, and experienced.It is noteworthy that the school's unending pursuit of quality education and making a mark difference is clearly distinguished by the formation of resilient, competent, and ethical learners and the continual improvement and upgrading of facilities.6 shows the degree of variance of the BSEd graduates' rating of their academic program when grouped according to their employment status.Findings revealed that there is no significant degree of variance in all the graduate's ratings of their academic program indicators as to their present employment status, present occupation, workplace, and months/years needed to land in first job.The parlance of the study speaks that the employability of the graduates does not implicate how they perceive their academic program's rating.
However, it can be gleaned from the table that there is a significant degree of variance in one indicator of the academic program in terms of the learning environment to the first job related to the course, with p-value of .002974445.Implying that the first job related to the course shaped how they perceived the rating of their academic program (learning environment).It can also be noted that the graduates' perception of their learning environment as to their employment first job relationship may also be induced or governed based on their previous experience applying it to assessing how they respond.In addition, their first job relationship may as well give a preview of their first job environment in relation to rating their learning environment in their undergraduate studies.
Lastly, there is a significant degree of variance in quality teaching when grouped to months and years taken to land in first job with a p-value of 0.00902305.It exemplifies the variety of responses of the graduates in landing their first job as to the quality teaching.Meaning to say those who have landed their first job in a short period have different perceptions in rating the quality  2020), which revealed that there is a significant degree of variance in the three dimensions in terms of skills, curricular structure, and competencies.Table 7 shows the degree of variance in quality teaching, student activities engagement, learning environment, and student support services in academic programs as perceived by the participants.Findings revealed that there is no significant degree of variance in quality teaching with a p-value of 0.150759992 and the learning environment with a p-value of 0.692419699 within the academic program.However, student activities engagement with a p-value of 0.001732248 and student support services with a pvalue of 0.033353139 showed a significant degree of variance among the four indicators within the academic program; hence the null hypothesis is rejected.
As shown in the results, student activities engagement and student support services have a significant degree of variance, signifying that these indicators should be given heightened emphasis as critical factors to the mechanisms of the academic program.Student activities engagement and student support services should be streamlined in the school.It would encourage students to actively participate in curricular or co-curricular activities to shape their developmental skills and participation.Evangelista (2021) stated that these activities help their employability.It becomes an advantage to have themselves a frontrunner to make them a wellrounded people (Villalobos et al., 2016).It becomes conclusive evidence that student activities engagement and student support services are indispensably critical components in demonstrating an optimum academic program for the students and the institution in general.
Even though the analysis of variance within the academic program showed no significant degree of variance (quality teaching and learning environment), these remain an integral component in the academe, ensuring quality education.

Very Effective
Throughout the years, St. Paul University Surigao has been continually shaping graduates who embody the institution's mission and vision, excel academically and exhibit the disciplines prescribed in the curriculum capable of generating employment.It can be inferred from Table 6 that the graduates' standpoint on their college learning experience as to the program outcomes of the Commission on Higher Education Memo 75 s.2017 has helped them and is very effective, with an average of 3.77.
The hallmarks of the effective implementation of academic programs in higher education citadels are established when the curriculum's desired outcomes, skills, and competencies are emphasized and demonstrated as expected to the learners after they have finished their undergraduate studies before transitioning to the labor force.It is attributed to interplaying in institutional management, learning environment, student support services, and pedagogies and strategies used by teachers, which are among the pre-requisite integral mechanisms that propel the optimal execution of quality and enriched academic learning experiences.
Furthermore, the Bachelor of Secondary Education program of St. Paul University Surigao is imbued by its emphasis on providing a holistic education that nurtures the learners' cognitive, social, emotional, and spiritual dimensions and exudes excellence for the stewardship and service of the Filipino men.And more importantly, it is a powerhouse that promotes the Filipino heritage and inclusivity to different world views and cultures in the present era of the globalization movement.
It is likewise corroborated by the findings of the study of Palestina et al. (2020) that effective implementation of the curriculum is well-proved by teachers as an essential element in the classroom and leadership of administration in driving and streamlining educational services human resource development, enhanced teaching training, and productivity.Teachers, as curriculum implementers, still the most vital element in the implementation of the curriculum and are should be exposed and trained to different professional training as it potentially affects and reforms curriculum practices.Similarly, Pujiyati et al. (2018) state that effective leadership in implementing academic programs in higher education institutions ensures optimum productivity and influences peer relationships, collegial work, and mobilizing support.

CONCLUSION
To encapsulate all these, St. Paul University Surigao continuously performs exemplarily in providing holistic education by assuring quality in every dimension of the school support services, professional development, academic program implementation, management, and compliance to a statutory and regulatory standards body.Effective academic program implementation is linked to effective school leadership and teachers.It is inseparable from harboring positive institutional organization between stakeholders, resource development, streamlining educational services, and mobilizing support and training.Professional training exposures equip teachers with a plethora of strategies and approaches to maximize the students' learning experience and engagement.And the streamlining of the academic program components paved the way for the empirical results in concretizing an enriched and meaningful learning experience, particularly for the higher education institutions, as critical for producing well-equipped graduates.
Unemployment and skills and job mismatch cannot immediately be drawn with definite conclusions as different frictional factors are considered in graduates deciding to transition in the labor market.It is noteworthy that these underlying reasons are both subjective and induced by the dynamic labor market demands, skills, and compensation.

RECOMMENDATION
At the height of the continual embrace of borderless education, teachers should constantly adapt new approaches and become the frontline of innovating new pedagogical strategies to ensure quality, effective teaching and learning, upgrading facilities to aid and boost an interactive and immersive teaching-learning activity, and streamlining school services to be more proactive.As teachers, the plurality importance of providing prompt and constructive feedback to students should be amplified.This has been seen as an inseparable element that stimulates and reinforces the students' behaviors and learning process.
Furthermore, the school administrators should constantly highlight effective school leadership and cooperation to maximize human resources scaffolding and continual professional development training for teachers and other educational services.And should continuously seek and forge new community linkages or industries to establish a wider array of opportunities for students to be exposed in different resources and skills development.Moreover, the institution should be a prime mover encouraging more the students to participate in school and community activities.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Above all, the researchers would like to express their myriad gratitude to the Almighty Father, for He has showered them with immeasurable blessings, wisdom, and strength.They thank Him for providing solemnity to understand the purpose of pursuing the study.
The success of this research study would not have been possible without the help and advice of a few people who tirelessly extended their hands and shared invaluable insights, knowledge, and expertise with the researchers and made it an impactful study.The researchers extend their heartfelt appreciation to the following individuals who showered their immeasurable time, effort, resources, and motivation: Dr. Lucy L. Teves, the researchers' adviser, for imparting her profound knowledge and advise in the field of research to deepen our understanding of the primary goal of the conduct of the study; Dr. Nikko T. Ederio, the researchers' statistician, validator, and one of our panelists, for his humble suggestions and assistance in interpreting the gathered data to equip the study with credibility and authenticity; Dr. Audi Kondessa N. Gortifacion and Dr. Alvin J. Sumampong, the researchers' validators, for their helpful tips and suggestions in crafting a relevant survey questionnaire designed for the study; Ms. Janice A. Ligtas, Ms. Lucille M. Senados, and Mr. Arjune A. Lumayno, for their unselfish dedication in assisting the researchers in finding significant documents and other suggestions; Ms. Karen T. Plaza, for sharing her resources and property related to this research study; Dr. Mark D. Abadiano and Dr. Godofreda O. Tirol, our dynamic panelists, for sharing their invaluable recommendations and suggestions that are vital in the study; The BSEd graduates of 2013 to 2017, for willingly and cooperatively accepted our request to acquire information that are much needed for the realization of the study; Generally, to the authors of the various studies, for providing contributions to the body of knowledge and become fundamental resources of the researchers.
More importantly, the researchers' parents, for ceaselessly showing their unwavering moral and financial support for the fervent hope and encouraging words they shared with us.
To God be all the Glory!

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Schematic Diagram of the Study entitled Tracer Study of the Bachelor of Secondary Education graduates of St. Paul University Surigao academic program compared to those who landed in a relatively short or long time.On the other note, quality teaching potentially influences the time to land their first job.It shapes their holistic formation, knowledge, and skills development that are crucial in the demand of society and industry, therefore securing time and spot for landing a job.It just indicates that the time it takes to land their job and the ratings of their academic program in terms of quality teaching contribute to their perception.Accordingly, the study's findings are related to the findings of Plaza et al. (

The
Bachelor of Secondary Education program graduates of St. Paul University Surigao strongly agrees with the effectiveness of the school's academic program in terms of quality teaching, student activities, learning environment, and student support services.Overall, the graduates' college learning experience of the Bachelor of Secondary program as to the program outcomes based on CHED memo 75 s.2017yielded very effectively and have helped them significantly.The Bachelor of Secondary Education program graduates from 2013 to 2017 indicates a high present employability rate.Despite the few unemployed participants, as discussed in the study's findings, it inarguably does not undermine that most graduates are currently employed in different occupations in public and private workplaces.As to the relation of course to their job, most of the graduates agreed that their job is aligned with their undergraduate studies.

Table 4 . 2 .
Reasons for Unemployment Meanwhile, Table4.2 showed the reason of unemployment behind those who answered no, which is indicated in Table4.1.When the responses were ranked, it revealed that the primary reason for unemployment is due to family concerns 2 or 100%.

Table 4 . 3 .
Employment status of the graduates as to the Present Occupation and Workplace

Table 4 . 4 .
Employment status of the graduates as to the Job Relation to the Course, First Job, Reasons for Changing the First Job, and Reasons for Accepting the Job

Table 5 .
Graduate's rating of the bachelor of secondary education program of SPU Surigao

Table 4 . 5
How long did it take to land your first job?

How long did it take to land your first job?
ISSN:

Table 5
presents the graduates' ratings for the bachelor of the secondary education program of SPU Surigao.Given a grand mean of 3.64, it implies that the graduates strongly agree that the quality teaching, student activities, learning environment, and student support services of the Bachelor of Secondary Education program of St. Paul University Surigao are very effective.The

Table 6 .
Degree of variance of the BSEd graduates' rating of their academic program when grouped according to their employment status

Table 7 .
Degree of variance in quality teaching, student activities engagement, learning environment, and student support services in academic program as perceived by the participants?

Table 8 .
Graduates' overall rating on their college learning experience of the bachelor of secondary education program as to the program outcomes based on CHED memo 75 s.2017 ISSN: