Monday, December 22, 2008 Ched wants extra years in college education
ANGELES CITY -- The Commission on Higher Education (Ched) is now determined to push forward its proposal to extend by at least two years the tertiary education in the country to promote "quality education that is up to international standards."
Ched Chairman Emmanuel Angeles said last Friday that the move is in line with the "curricular reforms" program of the commission and the Presidential Task Force for Education (PTFE).
Angeles said the move answers the need to overhaul the country's age-old tertiary system to meet world standards. The Philippines, along with Botswana, is one of the only two countries that still maintain a ten-year educational system.
"The problem with the current system is that we produce graduates who could not actually practice their degrees abroad because our graduates do not fit their requirements," Angeles said.
In the proposed program, an additional two years would be attached to regular courses as "pre-specialization" years. The program would be developed in a way students can actually go to work if they decide not to continue with the next four years of the regular course.
Engineering and technical courses of a "10-2-4 program" is also being proposed. The addition of extra years in tertiary education falls in accordance with the Bologna and Washington Accords, two pertinent agreements that promote higher education standards and qualifications.
To make sure that students are ready for college courses, the PTFE will then review the curriculums in both elementary and high school and institute immediate reforms.
To achieve all of these, Angeles said they are now asking Congress to double the P1.5-billion budget of the commission.
The Ched chief said the amount would ensure they would be able to address the four major concerns contained in the strategic plan for the country's tertiary education that are among the recommendations to be presented by the Presidential Task Force on Education (PTFE) this coming year.
"The strategic plan has four major areas that we need to address, namely: faculty development, upgrading of facilities, scholarship for poor yet deserving students and strengthening the research and development capabilities of tertiary institutions, especially of state colleges and universities," he said.
"If we want to really make significant impacts in the quality of higher education and produce globally competitive graduates, we must invest more in education as our neighbor economies are doing," he said.
The additional budget of P1.5 billion will also be poured into faculty development of teachers aiming to earn their Master's Degrees.
"All of these (curricular reforms) are gargantuan tasks that we are determined to overcome," Angeles added. (IOF)
