Marcos cites need to improve higher education

(UPDATE) PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday admitted that «much work is still to be done» after no Philippine university made it to the top 100 of the Times Higher Education's 2024 Asia University Rankings.

In his speech during the National Higher Education Day Summit at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City, Marcos acknowledged the stellar showing of the country's higher educational institutions (HEIs) in various world university rankings but stressed the need to improve the country's academic performance.

As of December 2023, the President said that 81 HEIs have been included in various world university rankings — a significant increase from the 52 that were included in July last year.

«However, we must acknowledge that in the recent Times Higher Education's 2024 Asia University Rankings, unfortunately, no Philippine university has reached Top 100, with the country's top schools either dropping or maintaining their rankings,» Marcos said.

«This just goes to show that much work is still to be done. We must pursue a comprehensive and all-encompassing strategy that will turn this trend around. The state of our education today shapes the future of the nation,» he added.

There were 1,977 HEIs in the Philippines as of Jan. 4, 2024. Of the figure, 113 are state universities and colleges; 137 local universities and colleges; 1,714 private HEIs; and 13 other government schools, Commission on Higher Education (CHEd)-supervised institutions, and special schools.

Marcos said the future of today's generation largely depends on the quality of higher education system.

Giving the youth the right competencies and skills and training «is the only way for them to prevail and to prosper, in this highly competitive world,» he said.

«Our greatest obligation to them is to mold them into critical thinkers, into problem solvers, into visionaries, wielding the skills that will allow them to succeed in the future. Without an educated workforce that will implement them, any national economic blueprints will remain simply as that — blueprints. We will not have the means or the capacity or the labor force to be able to make those plans a reality,»