Challenged by ASEAN 2015

Former Senator Edgardo J. Angara, in his keynote speech at the Philippine Education Conference 2013 at the SMX Convention Center last Monday, outlined the steps that the country has to take if it is to compete in 2015 when trade and education barriers are removed within the ASEAN region. Allow me to summarize his main points, with my comments.

First, he said, we have to remove the Constitutional ban against foreign ownership of schools.

He was referring to Section 4 (2) of Article 14, which states:

“Educational institutions, other than those established by religious groups and mission boards, shall be owned solely by citizens of the Philippines or corporations or associations at least 60 per centum of the capital of which is owned by such citizens. The Congress may, however, require increased Filipino equity participation in all educational institutions. The control and administration of educational institutions shall be vested in citizens of the Philippines.

“No educational institution shall be established exclusively for aliens and no group of aliens shall comprise more than one-third of the enrolment in any school. The provisions of this sub section shall not apply to schools established for foreign diplomatic personnel and their dependents and, unless otherwise provided by law, for other foreign temporary residents.”

When ASEAN opens all its internal doors in 2015, non-citizens will be flocking into the member countries, except in ours. We will be sending our students abroad, but we cannot accept all the foreign students that will want to study in our schools. Although capital will be allowed to move freely throughout the region, moreover, foreigners cannot invest heavily in Philippine education, because our Constitution forbids it. It is time for Charter change!

Second, Angara pushed for Philippine universities to offer Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). That will mean a major change in the way the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) operates. Right now, CHED is more interested in making Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) follow its rules (many of which antedate the digital revolution in education), rather than allowing them to join the rest of ASEAN in competing in virtual space.

Third, Angara advocated the use of texting for formal education. To its credit, the Department of Education (DepEd) already experiments with texts as instructional materials, but many public and private schools still have a Jurassic rule not allowing students to use cellphones in the classroom.

Fourth, Angara recommended that HEIs offer degrees in computer design and animation. I have a personal experience with this. I asked CHED for a permit to open an A.B. degree in Game Design in The Manila Times College, which I head. My request was turned down, on the grounds that there was no such course. Of course, there is no such course! That is the whole point of offering it. If we offered only courses that already exist, we would never progress. How I wish that Angara were still in the Senate to change the law so CHED would be truly developmental rather than detrimental. (To give credit where it is due, in her first speech as CHED Chair, Patricia Licuanan said that she wanted CHED not to be regulatory but to be developmental. Alas, the bureaucracy did not understand her.)

Fifth, Angara asked HEIs to take advantage of the coming demographic window (from 2015 to 2050), when the vast majority of Filipinos will be of working age. We have to prepare students to work productively during that window.

Finally, Angara mentioned what he worked for during his several terms in the Senate. He said that the country needs a critical mass of scientists and artists. These are the people that will make us truly competitive. Unfortunately, most Filipinos are in the service, rather than the creative industries.

For my part, I have already set in motion a mechanism for our country to compete in the field of journalism education. Because of CHED’s restrictions, however, I was forced to let Thammasat University offer the multi-country degree of M.A. in ASEAN Journalism, because most of its students will be non-Filipinos and most of the classes will be online.

As Angara concluded, ASEAN 2015 is not a threat, but an opportunity.

KUDOS: The Earthsavers, living up to their billing as UNESCO Artists for Peace, have done it again. They performed last Tuesday in Paris at the UNESCO observance of the United Nations Day for Persons with Disabilities.

The Earthsavers consist of Maricor Book (blind singer), Rico del Rosario (blind keyboardist), Raquel Arica (Down Syndrome, hearing-impaired), Edgardo Sison (polio victim), Edmarie Inda (indigenous artist), Angelbert Cruz (street kid), Edna Sanchez (deaf interpreter), Jennifer del Rosario (production assistant), Wally Tuyan (choreographer), and Susan Claudio (documenter and executive assistant).

Director Cecile Guidote-Alvarez explained the relevance of the group’s performance to the recent supertyphoon disaster. She said, “In the Philippines, the survivors are now handicapped, physically if not psychologically. We wish to provide a face of resilience and strength of spirit to overcome crisis and trauma.”

Since 1995 when they first performed outside the country, the Earthsavers have garnered praises from various individuals and groups, including Pope John Paul II and CNN.

Their trip to Paris was facilitated by the French Embassy, the Philippine UNESCO delegation in Paris, the European Section of the Department of Foreign Affairs, and Malayan Insurance.