To further advance internationalization in higher education institutions (HEI), the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) said over 1,000 HEI leaders were granted upskilling, reskilling, and scholarship opportunities.
This is still in line with the directives of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to ensure a world-class quality of education among Philippine HEIs to ensure the competence and employability of HEI graduates.
In a Viber message Thursday, CHED Chairperson J. Prospero de Vera III underscored the need and urgency to provide such opportunities to university leaders and translate them to improved education for students.
“We at CHED make sure that our university officials get continuous upskilling programs, especially on leadership, to ensure the provision of quality and inclusive education,” he told the Philippine News Agency (PNA).
Among the recipients include HEI leaders, faculty members, and university personnel of world-ranking universities in the Philippines.
In particular, 1,494 recipients were granted postgraduate scholarships, while 439 education leaders, faculty, and university personnel underwent upskilling, as of December 2024.
These include programs like the Leadership Essentials under the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in the United States; Advanced Short Course on Sustainable Dairy Production System by Massey University in New Zealand; Organizing Major Sports Events and Promoting Sports Tourism, under Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia; Short Course on Halal Food Standard Compliance: From Concept to Implementation by Universitas Bakrie in Indonesia; and Training of Trainers on Instruction and Delivery and Twinning Program in the Field of Aeronautics by British Columbia Institute of Technology.
The CHED, meanwhile, aims to increase its scholars to 2,000 in 2025.
Based on the latest report of CHED, 87 Philippine HEIs secured spots in various global rankings from July 2023 to June 2024, much higher than 52 HEIs in 2023 and 22 HEIs in 2022.
It also reported an increase in “university-to-university” linkages with international counterparts through offerings of joint degrees, double degrees, and twinning programs.
The CHED also targets to increase internationally-ranked Philippine HEIs with the best global universities to 110 in 2025; 156 in 2026; 202 in 2027; and 220 by the end of Marcos’ term. (PNA)