Commission on Higher Education Chairperson Prospero De Vera (PNA file photo by Avito Dalan)
MANILA – A Chinese school is hoping to allow its Hotel and Restaurant Management (HRM) students to have their on-the-job-training (OJT) in the tourist areas in Western Visayas through a partnership forged with the University of Antique.
The partnership is one of the examples cited by Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Chairperson Prospero De Vera III, during a Senate budget deliberation on Monday, as one of their initiatives in boosting linkages between Philippine higher education institutions (HEIs) and international schools.
"There is a significant interest in Chinese colleges and universities to allow their students to experience training and studies abroad," De Vera said, noting that this includes the Philippines and Western Visayas where the University of Antique is located.
"In return, the students of the University of Antique can also do their training in agriculture and other areas in Chinese universities and colleges, also in the place where we went," he added.
The University of Antique, which signed an agreement with the Guizhou Vocational College of Foodstuff Engineering, is one of the 10 HEIs which also forged agreements with their Chinese counterparts during the recent Philippines-China University President Cooperation Dialogue and Networking Session in China.
Among them were the Mariano Marcos State University, José Rizal University, Isabela State University, University of Cordillera, World Citi Colleges, Lyceum of the Philippines University-Batangas, University of Perpetual Help System Dalta, University of the Philippines, and the Mabalacat City College.
De Vera told senators that the number of linkages of varying degrees established between the Philippines and international HEIs is now at 1,968 which include other existing partnerships with the UK and Canadian counterparts.
"Camosun College, the biggest college in Western Canada in the island of Victoria, is establishing a campus in Pampanga this coming school year together with Miriam College. So, this is a transnational model where a foreign university is going to establish a campus jointly with Miriam to offer their degree program physically in the Philippines," De Vera said.
Philippine HEIs, he said, should know about the concept of internationalization to understand the criteria, metrics, and other steps to produce world-class graduates.
"For those who are interested, we now encourage them to develop their internationalization plan approved by their Board and subject themselves to any of the ranking institutions," he said.
To accomplish their targets, De Vera said CHED supports HEIs by paying for the travel of their university presidents and meeting their counterparts abroad to explore the possibility of collaboration. (PNA)
