WB pushes Phl on scholarships, student loans

MANILA, Philippines – The World Bank (WB) has called on the national government to push the grant of scholarships to deserving but poor students of public schools.

It also called for the introduction of student loans and a review of the tuition fee structure in the public school system.

“It is important that there is an equitable access to the opportunities for higher education,” Emanuela di Gropello, WB economist and co-author of a WB study on higher education, said in a press briefing yesterday.

“What is important is how the budget is used, there is no direct correlation to the spending against the need for higher education. It is how money is being used and allocated. Policy makers or government must make sure to use in more beneficial means such as research, skills upgrade and mechanism to ensure inclusiveness in terms of opportunities,” she said.

“Putting Higher Education to Work: Skills and Research for Growth in East Asia” was presented to participants of a higher education workshop organized by the Commission on Higher Education and the WB at the Edsa Shangri-La Hotel yesterday.

The study showed that employers in both manufacturing and services in the East Asia and Pacific region including the Philippines are looking for workers who possess skills in problem solving, communications and management, among others.

The Philippines, along with other low- and middle-income countries in the East Asia and the Pacific region is climbing the technology ladder and assimilated important technologies by becoming more open, developing infrastructure and improving its manufacturing industry.

Gropello said building skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or the so-called STEM disciplines, in raising workforce productivity and capacity for innovation are essential to overall economic expansion.

The WB study said there is a skills gap in the service industry, export and technologically intensive sectors, which represent a “very serious bottleneck” for innovation and productivity in the Philippines.

“For the Philippines to grow faster and achieve continued technological deepening, two main priorities are evident for higher education, address skills gap by maintaining coverage and improving the quality of higher education graduates; and increase research relevant to the economic needs in universities or departments,” the report stated.

The report also recommended that the Philippines improve the use and allocation of public resources, while moving from historically negotiated budgets to performance-based allocation.

The WB urged the government to complete the process of granting autonomy to universities (particularly staffing and finance) and strengthen the role and functions of university boards.

“The Philippines must improve the quality of private higher education through better information, and encourage selected university-industry linkages to improve curriculum relevance, support entrepreneurship, and help with technological upgrading, e.g., build on the positive examples of some existing university partnerships with firms in skills delivery,” the report added.

The Philippines ranked among the lowest in terms of output per worker among the developing nations, according to a recent International Labor Organization study.

The Philippines was slightly better than Vietnam and Cambodia, but lower than Indonesia, China, Thailand and Malaysia.

Meanwhile, WB economist Prateek Tandon, who also co-authored the report, said the evolving links between higher education systems and the business sector are becoming a major focus of policy as the role of technology in development expands.

“Not only do they impart education, but universities are viewed more and more as sources of industrially valuable technical skills, innovation, and entrepreneurship,” Tandon said.

Tandon also stressed the importance of involving the private sector especially the business and manufacturing sector, to be directly and indirectly involved in helping the state formulate the correct curriculum in relation to the needs of industry. –Ted Torres (The Philippine Star)