With the support of UNESCO, the La Salle Institute of Governance (LSIG) implemented the Migration, Education, and Human Security Project to develop a policy framework on labor migration, education, and human security.

Aimed to improve governance in the area of labor migration and education by promoting research-based policy development, the project examined the research-policy nexus governing the links between the issues of labor migration and education and its impact on the Filipino migrants’ welfare, rights, security competitiveness, and capacity to adapt in the evolving global economy. It also identified relevant research-policy questions and provided recommendations that can guide policy makers, practitioners, and researchers. Also, the project looked into the spaces for relevant partnerships between different sectors – national and local government agencies, academe, civil society organizations, policy makers, and international development organizations – to improve research-policy making and governance on labor migration and education.

The project conducted three Round Table Discussions (RTDs) which dissected the research and policy issues linking migration, education, competitiveness, human security, information and communications technology connectivity and rights. The discussions also examined the present research-policy development environment. It outlined challenges and identified recommendations that are critical in improving research, policy making, and governance of the labor and education sector. Representatives from government, civil society organizations, academe, business, and multilateral organizations provided the input in the series of three RTDs, namely, (1) Labor Migration and the Philippine Education System: Ensuring Human Security through Human Capital Development; (2) Labor Migration and ICTs: Connectivity, Rights, and Competiveness; and (3) Human Trafficking and Migration Rights’ Protection: Governance and Education Interventions.

The project identified the need to study the complete migration cycle and link it to policy and governance through formal and informal education interventions. It further suggested to look beyond the “brain drain phenomenon,” such as “brain gain,” i.e. how to maximize the technology transferred from destination countries back to the Philippines. It also recommended the strengthening of the role of basic education for the schoolchildren’s awareness on migration, as well as the development and deployment of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in facilitating labor migration and protecting migrants.