HIGHER EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES IN THE PHILIPPINES FOR A Strong Republic

BY

DR.  CARLITO S. PUNO

Acting Chairman

Commission on Higher Education, Philippines

Your Excellencies,

Friends,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I. Introduction

Over the past five decades great efforts  have been made to improve education and bring about change and development in the educational systems all over the world. Recently, the United Nations issued the Millennium Development Goals to bring QUALITY EDUCATION FOR ALL and to reduce poverty through education. Achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals is the very functioning of the educational systems and designing national sectoral policies, setting educational priorities and developing appropriate reform strategies are the most transparent ways by which countries respond to these challenges.

Philippines, under the pressure of technological progress and modernization, has initiated higher education development programs and committed to fully support and modernize its higher education system. Higher Education modernization  programs have been developed  and have been highlighted over the last decade for increased quality, efficiency and relevance of educational programs.

Higher education in the Philippines is the responsibility of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED). The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has the power and functions to formulate and recommend development plans, policies, priorities  and programs on higher education and research. It identifies, supports and develops potential centers of excellence in program areas needed for the development of world-class scholarship, nation-building and national development.

Higher education developments in recent years centered in the three domains of higher education: such as teaching, research and services. Under my leadership, the Commission continuously supports with a distinct increase in funding coming from the higher education development fund higher education institutions to enhance program quality, effectiveness and relevance of their academic programs.

II.  Higher Education Reform Strategies in the Philippines

Dear Ministers, CHED charts the direction of Philippine tertiary education though significant reforms, proper resource allocation   and international linkages.  The priority reforms in Philippine higher education are under the Higher Education Development Project or the HEDP which are currently being  implemented  until  2009. Among the salient higher education reforms under the HEDP are:

       A. Establishment of Greater Uniformity in Accrediting Standards and Procedures for Higher Education Institutions- the HEDP introduced the improvement of quality assurance system to upgrade higher education curricula to international standards. To achieve this, the following reforms will be introduced:

1.      A monitoring and evaluation system will be institutionalized within CHED;

2.      The system of accreditation will be strengthened ;

3.       The Professional Board Examinations will be upgraded. 

      The first reform in quality assurance is to revise higher education curricula so as to ensure competency required for professional practice and the identification of minimum learning outcomes and core competencies.  The curricular revision and benchmarking will be conducted by the CHED Technical Panel, representatives from the Professional Regulation Commission and relevant industrial and economic sectors. CHED staff and officials of higher education institutions will also be trained to identify core competencies and learning outcomes, ad to translate these into assessment instruments.

      A more focused approach on accreditation of program will be introduced to complement the new institutional monitoring and evaluation system as to reduce the pool of programs for accreditation to manageable portion. This new monitoring and evaluation system will be established within CHED to ensure that:

1.      student outcomes reach international standards;

2.      HEIs perform effectively in terms of continuous improvement, efficient use of resources and high graduation rates ;

3.      HEIs are effective in addressing policy issues including those relating to equity; and

4.      Information about higher education in the Philippines is disseminated effectively.

      CHED is revising the guidelines on accreditation to better include appropriate world-class practices on quality assurance. Assistance on software and hardware to develop capacity on accrediting agencies will be provided by the Commission on Higher Education.

       B. Rationalizing the Higher Education System and Improve Efficiency - Another major reform package is the rationalization of higher education system. The first intervention will lay the foundation for a more efficient and effective system in delivering public higher education and services and for a more flexible regulatory framework for private higher education provision. The second will improve management at the sector level by improving the higher education management information system, and introducing and implementing graduate tracer studies. The third intervention will strengthen management of higher education institutions through training programs for managers of both public and private HEIs.  The main areas of reforms are:

1.      Program mapping to identify areas for program duplication, over-served and underserved areas and redirect State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) program to priority disciplines and towards geographic areas that are not served.

2.      Development of an HEI typology which could be used for funding allocation. It will also provide a basis for identifying SUCS with the greatest potentials for development to international standards.

3.      Corporatization of SUCS- There are two ways to achieve corporatization. One is by privatizing all or some aspects of the management of the SUCs or the transfer of SUCs to the private sector. The program will try to identify SUCS which could promote fiscal autonomy. Assistance will also be provided to implement the corporatization scheme in selected  SUCs.

       C. Strengthening Teacher Competencies in Higher Education, Through Major Staff Development Program- The Philippine higher education reform program seeks to improve the quality of higher education by building the capacity for managers of HEIs in both public and private institutions through training and development activities. The reform will also include international benchmarking, provision of specialized courses in strategic planning, quality management, income generation, and the use of data from management information systems. A training of around 3500 presently employed teaching personnel to the levels of Masters Degree in priority fields such as science, mathematics, engineering, information technology, English and social sciences will be targeted.

       D. Strengthening Student Assistance – The Philippine student financial aid requires major reforms to improve its equity, effectiveness and efficiency. Three programs will be introduced under the Higher Education Development Project. First, the scholarship programs will be streamlined and targeted better. Overlapping aid programs will be consolidated under two major programs: a)  a national program of scholarship vouchers to meet the tuition and living costs of students with the greatest need and highest merit; b) an umbrella programs of integrated   regional tuition grants for needy students with high merit. 

       Second the selection system will be improved. Potential eligibility for national scholars and regional tuition grants will be determined through: a) calculations of an eligibility index based on a uniform set of verifiable needs; and b) performance in a standard national test.  Socio-economic eligibility and financial eligibility indices will be developed and pilot tested.

       Third, the existing administrative structure for student financial assistance will also be modernized and simplified. Students can apply for aid electronically, by mail or in person at CHED regional offices. There would be the development of procedures, computerization and related cost for a much simplified and efficient administrative structure.

       These reforms programs have been introduced from 1994 and will continue to be implemented until 2009.  The programs are accompanied by seven strategic investments that will exert broad impact in improving higher education. Each of these interventions is either a system-wide or targeted critical points of  leverage system.

These developments, founded on CHED’s main thrusts of quality and excellence; relevance and responsiveness; access and equity and efficiency and effectiveness, still profoundly implemented from region to region  are closely linked to educational development.  They are closely monitored and linked to similar development projects outside of the country  which give pride of place brainpower and innovation.

III. Policies to Enhance International Cooperation and Exchanges

Philippine higher education institutions have experienced the growing demand for a greater international participation, taking in both the range of international activities and the integration of international content in the teaching, research and services.  International cooperation between Philippine and foreign universities has involved various stages, strategies, instruments and channel

       A. Policies that Drive the Growth of   Internationalization 

             of Philippine Higher Education

The development of policies and institutionalization of  international cooperation programs for internationalization of  higher education as well as implementation of resource development scheme rest on the  CHED.    CHED’s  Long Term and Medium Term Development Plans have indicated  internationalization of higher education as an issue of critical importance.   The following goals give a brief overview of a well-defined governing concept on internationalization of higher education in the Philippines:

Philippine higher education shall be geared towards the following:

1.      Development  and promotion of academic exchanges between and among local and international higher education institutions, scholarship grants and international conventions;

2.      Development of schemes and strategies to internationalize Philippine higher education;

3.      Generation and transmission of knowledge in the broader range of disciplines relevant and responsive to the dynamically changing domestic and international environment;

4.      Provision of undergraduate and graduate education competitive with international standards of quality and excellence.

These goals have driven the promotion of international linkages and cooperation programs in higher education institutions.  A number of  Philippine universities and colleges beefed up their programs to integrate international linkages, consortium agreements and exchange programs in their mission, goals  and institutional programs. Higher education institutions in the Philippines welcomed  internationalization by participating in a wide range of activities that incorporate international dimensions into the three  domains of higher education, teaching, research and service.

The process of internationalization that we see today in Philippine higher education institutions is the combined efforts of a number of activities, including:

o         International movement of faculty

o         Internationalization of higher education curricula

o         Establishment of twinning and international linkages

o         Establishment of student internship abroad or study abroad programs

The scope of international programs in Philippine higher education can be described by listing policies and  activities which involve  the students, faculty, higher education staff and researchers.

       B. Policy  on   International Linkages

The  Commission on Higher Education acknowledged the importance of establishing International Linkages and Twinning Programs in its issuance of CHED Memorandum Order (CMO) No. 1 s. 2000 entitled “Policies and Guidelines on International Linkages and Twinning Programs.   It was noted that significant results have been achieved in facilitating academic cooperation and exchange within higher education and between higher education and industry in the Asia Pacific Region upon the issuance of the policy.  The policy endorsed to  higher education institutions to participate in educational and cultural exchanges, send students for study abroad programs, establish collaborative researches and sign  twinning agreement  for the purpose of establishing joint-degree programs.

In the period 2000-2005, higher education institutions increasingly began to participate in student exchange and took part in inter-university cooperation programs. Many efforts have been made to encourage, support and acknowledge the internationalization initiatives of individual higher education institutions. CMO No. 1 provided the stimulus for internationalization furthering partnership programs between local and foreign higher education institution by allowing them to establish joint-degree programs.  Initially, only those with Level II or even higher level of accreditation have been allowed by CHED to tie up with foreign higher education providers only to ensure that quality programs are offered to both local and international students.

CMO No 1 stresses that higher education institutions should secure registration or approval of the Commission on Higher Education  on programs to be offered under the joint-degree scheme with overseas institutions.  It  also emphasizes the need for Philippine higher education institutions to have faculty and staff exchanges and joint collaborative research as they may determine as needed to enhance their capacities as educational provider.

Under the Internationalization Advocacy Plan of CHED, some conditions are very evident. These are the following: 1) Need for a Supportive Mission from the participating higher education institution; 2) Need for a funding support to increase the speed at which higher education institutions can internationalize; 3) appropriate structure to handle internationalization initiatives.

It is indicated in the Medium Term Development  Plan that 20 % of all Philippine higher education institutions should strive to establish and maintain international network and academic exchange  in order to infuse international dimension into teaching, research and extension.

CHED issued “Policies and Guidelines on International Practicum Training Program for BS HRM and BS Tourism  students ”in 1998, 2000 and 2002  to encourage participating higher education institutions to send their BS HRM or Tourism students to experience international work and exposure as an academic requirement. The program is popularly known as the “International Practicum Training Program or the IPTP”.

The IPTP encourages duly recognized Philippine universities and colleges which offer Hotel and Restaurant Management and Tourism to develop an agreement with foreign training establishments to be able to deploy student trainees for job shadowing program.  On the part of foreign training establishment or industry, CHED requires accreditation of  their training program, training plans  and student support services

       C. Policies on Transnational Education  Program

The greatest challenge  for internationalization in the Philippines nowadays has come from the liberalization of higher education services in many countries and the phenomenon of globalization.  CHED  recognizes that these developments have created a climate for borderless teaching and learning as well as expanded opportunities for transnational education. CHED established the Policies and Guidelines on  Transnational Education, that states:

1.      The Commission on Higher Education recognizes that globalization, changing foreign policies, and liberalization of trade in goods and services worldwide have created a climate for borderless teaching and learning as well as expanded the opportunities for transnational education which includes but is not limited to the establishment of universities and colleges abroad, higher education franchising, and distance education.

2.      This phenomenon, together with the rapid developments in information and communications technology, promotes access to foreign qualifications, degrees, certificates and diplomas.  It also encourages universities, colleges and training institutions to offer credits and degrees in a borderless environment.

3.      The Commission on Higher Education is mandated to preserve and protect the rights of all Filipino citizens to quality and affordable education, to improve the quality and international comparability of higher education programs and institutions, and to facilitate the development of a human resource base responsive to the demands of the times.

Programs of transnational nature require appropriate registration with the Commission and other relevant government agencies.  It is hoped that foreign institutions would take part in enhancing our educational programs in partnership with our local higher education institutions.

Conclusions:

The  major roles of higher education have been the promotion of quality, effectiveness, relevance, access and international cooperation. Nevertheless, the need to promote international exchanges and benchmarking activities such as this gathering is a needed strategy. 

The arena of higher education policy making is towards educational development. Policy making to support educational development is crucial to all developing economies in the Asian region. Hence I commend the Boao Education Forum for Asia for its humble goal of bringing together Policy Makers in this great and majestic place of Beijing.

Knowledge via education has become a sine qua non for social advancement and social participation. If higher education is to meet the challenges of the future  we must strive to develop closer link and forge international cooperation in as many areas as required in the new society we are in.

The Philippines through the Commission on Higher Education has been implementing reform agenda since its inception. The priority actions centered on improving quality, enhancing efficiency, addressing access and relevance and internationalization  are now being addressed by the Commission on Higher Education. International cooperation remains at the forefront of these reform programs considering the pictures of cross-border education and the implementation of trade in education services.

It is our hope that BOAO Education Forum For Asia will be a catalyst of change in the region. It is our great hope that it  sustains educational cooperation and promotes greater understanding between and among countries over time. The collaborative initiative of the Philippine higher education institutions through  CHED and universities and organizations propelling BOAO Forum ensures that educational development will be supported and nurtured on a at stable ground.