MANILA – The Philippines seeks to advance transnational education strategy for the country and across the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region, with the education framework of the United Kingdom (UK) as a benchmark.
The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) on Tuesday made the remark following a closed-door meeting with international education leaders, as it hosts the UK-ASEAN higher education week, themed “Advancing ASEAN-UK collaboration in higher education.”
In an interview, CHED Chairperson Shirley Agrupis said they aim to ensure alignment of quality assurance and recognition of academic credits.
“Napakahalaga ng benchmarking because ‘yung pag-develop natin ng (Benchmarking is important for the development of our) transnational education partnership with the UK, we learned how they aligned their quality assurance with the needs of the workforce,” she said.
This initiative includes exploring ways and potential partnerships to ensure that graduating students from the UK education system will be accepted and recognized in the Philippines and ASEAN, and even vice versa.
“So, the first step, of course, is to align our quality framework. So that there’s reciprocity. There’s a mutual, I should say, mutual recognition of academic credits from one university to university,” Agrupis said.
For the Philippines, the CHED chief said areas identified by the second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) will be prioritized for program alignment.
These include programs related to health, agriculture and fisheries, digital transformation, and digital literacy and education, among others.
The partnership seeks to boost student and faculty mobility, as well as research collaboration across the Philippines, ASEAN, and the UK.
“So far, CHED has partnered in about three partnerships in transnational education. So, we are expanding this,” Agrupis said.
“Our goal here in CHED is to really take advantage of our transnational education to massify our advanced degrees in our priority programs, especially in graduate programs.”
With the contribution of the British Council, CHED is set to launch the Philippine Transnational Higher Education (TNHE) Strategy on Wednesday.
UK Mission to ASEAN Ambassador HE Helen Fazey, meanwhile, vowed continuous support and long-term collaboration with ASEAN member states.
“The UK remains committed to being a trusted and long-term partner for ASEAN as we deepen our cooperation in education,” she said in a separate speech.
Fazey also cited key priorities such as ensuring a long-term approach in partnership, alongside meeting mutual and inclusive benefits between the UK and ASEAN, especially amid the emerging trends and changes in technology, artificial intelligence, and workforce demands.
EduPhil for edutourism
CHED, meanwhile, said it is now expediting preparations for the actual launch of the Education Philippines (EduPhil).
EduPhil is an online platform that seeks to streamline student visa processing for all incoming foreign students for higher education, training, or research, which was established under the EduPhil program following the issuance of Executive Order 124.
“The goal of EduPhil is to increase the number of inbound students in the Philippines para ma-strengthen natin ang ating (so that we can strengthen our) EduTourism,” Agrupis said.
She said the platform will substantially reduce the processing time of inbound students for their visa application.
“We came to an agreement that we will expedite the EduPhil. Why EduPhil? Because this is a one-stop digital platform wherein incoming foreign students will upload their requirements, and there will be an interoperable system across all the agencies that process the student visa,” Agrupis said.
“So, instead of several weeks to months processing the visa —we agreed on a certain rate. Others said, ‘20 days is enough ’; ‘no, no, no, let’s reduce it to seven days.’”
The CHED, meanwhile, is set to conduct consultations with the Education Malaysia Global Service in the second week of November to explore their practices in working with a model platform and ensure the smooth launch of EduPhil.
To date, the EduPhil Task Force, led by CHED in partnership with other government agencies, is finalizing the implementing rules and regulations for the program.
They have 120 days to finalize the guidelines before the actual launch of EduPhil.
Among CHED’s partner agencies are the Department of Foreign Affairs, Bureau of Immigration, and Department of Information and Communications Technology, among others. (Stephanie Sevillano/PNA)
