UP creating archipelagic, oceanic university

MANILA, Philippines —  A new university under the University of the Philippines system is currently in the works, UP president Angelo Jimenez disclosed yesterday.

Jimenez said the university is laying the groundwork for what could be the 10th university in the UP System by connecting the marine and ocean programs in UP Diliman and UP Visayas.

He added that the pooling of programs in the Marine Science Institute of UP Diliman and the Fisheries and Oceans Program of UP Visayas would give birth to “an archipelagic and oceanic virtual university.”

“It will become the 10th UP university in our system. This initiative aims to enhance existing program offerings, introduce digital ad virtual platforms and develop transdisciplinary courses,” Jimenez announced during the National Higher Education Day Summit in Pasay City.

The UP president said the premier state university plans to collaborate with other state universities and colleges, foreign universities with similar programs and various maritime industry stakeholders to craft curricula and roadmaps for research and innovation.

These will be aimed at developing “the Blue Economy and the Archipelagic Nation by 2050 in alignment with Pagtanaw 2050,” according to Jimenez, referring to the Department of Science and Technology’s foresight and strategic planning project.

The Science, Technology, and Innovation or STI roadmap under Pagtanaw 2050 aims to make the country a “prosperous, archipelagic, maritime nation characterized by a society that is inclusive, productive, sustainable, educated and healthy.”

As Philippine universities fell in the recent Asia university rankings, President Marcos yesterday called for a “comprehensive” and “all-encompassing” strategy to further improve the state of tertiary education in the country.

In his speech at the National Higher Education Day Summit in Pasay City, Marcos lamented the exclusion of Philippine universities in this year’s Times Higher Education (THE) Asia University Rankings.

“Unfortunately, no Philippine university has reached Top 100, with the country’s top schools either dropping or maintaining their rankings,” he said. “This just goes to show that much work is still to be