‘Never too late’: Filipino domestic helpers pursue degree dreams they put on hold
Written by Jayson Albano for the South China Morning Post.
When Dyan Agonoy left the Philippines to work as a domestic helper in Hong Kong, she had to leave her family behind.
“I’ve missed a lot of my kids’ milestones, our special occasions. I’m always the only one missing from the pictures,” she said.
Agonoy left university, married young and started a family. Without the bachelor’s degree required for many jobs, she took up domestic work abroad.
Gelanie Aguilario faced a similar plight. She twice tried to earn a bachelor’s degree – first in political science, hoping to become a lawyer, and then in education – but pregnancy and family obligations derailed her plans.
Now working in Hong Kong as a domestic helper to support her siblings financially, she felt she had fallen behind them.
Not having a degree made her feel like a failure, which was compounded by her father’s death. “It’s kind of like I failed him,” she said.
Both women’s fortunes changed in 2024, when they came across Full Phils, a non-profit organisation that helps overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Hong Kong earn bachelor’s degrees. The courses are fully online, and the group subsidises 80 per cent of the costs, leaving students to pay about HK$600 (US$76) per term.
Full Phils was founded in 2022 by Emilio Baja, when he was just 14 years old. Born and raised in the Philippines, Baja lived with his family in Hong Kong for two years while he was in the eighth grade. He was struck by the crowds of domestic helpers gathering every Sunday in makeshift tents and among cardboard boxes across the city.
“OFWs are incredibly visible in Hong Kong,” Baja said. “But their individual stories, ambitions and even their sacrifices are often left invisible.
“It made me ask the question: if they can spend their lives creating opportunities for everyone else, who is creating opportunities for them?”
Full Phils draws on a Philippine government initiative known as the Expanded Tertiary Education Equivalency and Accreditation Programme, or ETEEAP.
Candidates must have at least five years of work experience, which ETEEAP converts into credits towards a relevant bachelor’s degree. The degree can then be awarded after as little as six months of study.
Full Phils partners with AMA University, Philippine Women’s University (PWU) and the University of the Philippines to offer online asynchronous modular courses.
Baja said this allowed Filipinos abroad to be “full-time students while also being full-time domestic workers”.
Eligible for hospitality degrees at PWU, Aguilario and Agonoy spent a year studying across three terms while maintaining their full-time jobs. They said time management and support from friends, family and employers were crucial.
“In the mornings when I drop off the [employer’s] kid to school, I have three hours for myself or household chores,” Aguilario said. “If I get the chores done in an hour or two, I have an extra hour to do what I have to do for school.”
Agonoy said she would stay up until 1am to do her homework, which took a toll on her body.
“In my last term, my blood pressure dropped. I was sent for medical check-ups by my employer,” she said.
The women relied on their fellow students for support. Every month, FullPhils runs workshops to teach the women skills they might not otherwise learn as part of their degree, such as financial literacy and how to use Excel.
In February, Aguilario and Agonoy graduated.
Aguilario recalled her feelings at the ceremony in Manila.
“I was crying because I had my mum there,” she said. “I was like … this is it. I made it.”
She added that she and her siblings planned to open a cafe and pastry shop back home. She hopes other domestic helpers will follow her example and earn a degree.
Agonoy said she was proud of her achievement, although she did not attend her graduation ceremony. She has since enrolled in education courses, aiming to become a teacher in the Philippines or elsewhere, as long as her family can join her.
“I don’t want [it to be] that as long as I live, I’m just scrubbing toilets for different employers. I believe I can do more,” she said. “Others shouldn’t let their failures determine what they can achieve. Because those failures, they’re just a part of our journeys.”
Now starting university at Harvard in the United States, Baja said Full Phils had granted about 30 scholarships so far and that he hoped to expand the programme soon.
“In the long term, organisations like Full Phils shouldn’t be necessary, because NGOs are ultimately just band-aids,” he said. “We need systemic solutions that ensure education is provided to Filipinos so that they’re able to work in the Philippines without having to live abroad to provide for their families.”
Until that change comes, Baja will use Full Phils to invest in as many OFWs as possible.
“Sacrifice shouldn’t require surrendering your own future. It’s not too late to return to education,” he said. “Your dreams still matter.”
