A credit transfer system that aligns the Philippine qualifications to ASEAN and EU credit schemes has been developed by a higher education expert from the UK, intended for use by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED). The Philippine Credit Transfer System Framework is part of the British Council’s goal to support the process of aligning the Philippine national standards to regional and international education systems.
Given the trifocalisation of the Philippine education sector into three governing bodies—the Department of Education (DepEd) for basic education, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) for technical and vocational trainings, and CHED for higher education—establishing a credit transfer scheme that bridges existing gaps within the sector and aligning this with international schemes are essential to improve the quality of Philippine education.
The consultant, Mr Andy Gibbs, was engaged to undertake a review of and harmonise existing credit transfer systems in the Philippines, Asia-Pacific and EU. A report was developed containing the framework for the scheme and a series of recommendations to support its piloting. The proposal is currently being reviewed by the CHED Technical Working Group on Pathways and Equivalencies, and awaiting implementation.
The report highlighted 14 key elements of a credit scheme that CHED must take into account, including the adoption of a learner-centred approach and the measurement of student workload, among many others. In one of the discussions in the report, Mr Gibbs emphasised that ‘the credit system is focused on the individual needs of the learner so that institutions should not put unnecessary burden in the way of learning. It is suggested that as the system moves towards learner-centred, compensation for professors should be on the value of what students have learned and not how long they have learned. Focus should not be on the workload of teachers but the workload of the students.’
This collaboration with CHED is in line with what the British Council seeks to achieve for the EU grant-funded project Support to Higher Education in the ASEAN Region (SHARE), a four-year initiative with an overarching objective to create lasting benefits from the harmonisation of higher education systems across Southeast Asia by enhancing the quality, competitiveness and internationalisation of higher education institutions and students in the region.