Global standards for higher education (First of four parts)

Inow share with you, readers, my speech on the topics “the Role of CHED in Setting Global Standards for Higher Education in the Philippines” during the Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT) Institute Symposia and Fora on July 9, 2010 with the theme “Looking Global . . . . Taking Actions . . . ”

Introduction

A pleasant afternoon to all of you in attendance in this worthwhile activity organized by MSU-IIT headed its ever energetic and dynamic Chancellor, Dr. Marcelo Salazar . . . My fellow presenters, Dr. Ludwig Streit from the Bilbos Research Center Biefeld—Bonn Scholastics direct from Germany . . . Welcome to the Philippines, Dr. Streit and in behalf of the Commission on Higher Education, we would like to extend our gratitude for sharing your time and expertise in this worthwhile activity. Of course, my fellow civil servants in the Department of Science and Technology, Dr. Jaime Montoya, who is concurrent PCHRD executive director and president of the National Research Council of the Philippines and last, but definitely not the least, the only rose among the thorns, Ms. Malou Jacob, our executive director for the National Commission for the Culture and Arts . . . we have a truly varied field of speakers that encompasses the sciences and the arts and I do hope that we get a good perspective of how we can go about helping each other in producing globally competitive graduates, faculty members and researchers. To the MSU staff and officials who I believe worked really hard to organize this activity, my dear participants and guests . . .

I was invited here this afternoon to talk about the role of CHED in setting global standards for higher education in the country. Before I proceed with my talk I would like to quote an African proverb—

Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death.
It doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle.When the sun comes up, you better start running.

The proverb aptly describes the context of globalization and the pressing need for all the countries in the world to shape up or be left behind wondering why it did not run in the first place. At this point in time, it is not anymore a question whether we are willing or fit to compete in the global arena but it has become a necessity in order for our country to be a competitive and active member of the “global knowledge village.”

One of the pillars in our quest for acceptance in the global community is to have a strong education system focusing primarily on one of the development thrusts of Higher Education in the country—Quality and Excellence. It is therefore not a coincidence that the tagline for the CHED thrust on Quality and Excellence is “Towards Global Competitiveness in Higher Education.”

The Medium Term Higher Education Plan indicates that the need for Quality and Excellence is imperative because of the need to have quality inputs to produce quality outputs and to address the exacting demands of local and global markets. It is within this framework that the Office of Programs and Standards (OPS) has focused its developmental programs and projects.

The different OPS projects in setting global standards could be summarized in several key areas namely:continuous review and revision of policies, standards and guidelines and benchmarking activities, quality assurance in the program and institutional level and mobility of graduates. In the latter part, I would talk about the plans of the Commission with regards to joining internationally accepted agreements to create a more uniform Higher Education System.

Policies, standards development and benchmarking

Since the establishment of CHED in 1994, the Commission has put in place a system whereby the Commission is assisted by different Technical Panels in all program areas. The Technical Panels (TPs) are senior specialist or academicians that are considered as experts in their particular program area. The TP’s assist the OPS in setting policies and standards and in the monitoring and evaluation activities. The process of developing the PSGs take several stages wherein the TPs and the OPS participate in massive data gathering and policy analysis to determine the minimum standards that the school must comply with in order to open a new program or to serve as benchmark in determining whether a program meets local and global standards. The PSGs are reviewed and revised once in every five years. A key feature of the PSGs is the minimum curricular requirements for each program. –FELIZARDO Y. FRANCISCO, Manila Times

To be continued

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