In partnership with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), we led the two-day ‘Strengthening internationalisation of SUCs: SDGs and post-Covid-19 agenda’ virtual workshop on 24-25 June 2020. The session, which gathered 30 state universities and colleges (SUCs) across the country, aimed to reimagine the role of international partnerships in driving innovation and resilience in the context of global disruptions.
CHED Director for International Affairs Atty Lily Milla underscored the role that SUCs play in redesigning education to meet the needs of the ever-changing landscape. According to her, SUCs have distinct and robust insights that are valuable in developing quality standards for assessing both their levels of internationalisation and, more importantly, the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Through the workshop, we sought to gather insight on creating quality indicators for SUCs, similar to the one we have for private universities and colleges.
In 2019, we partnered with Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities Commission on Accreditation (PACUCOA) to develop policy recommendations that will fully integrate internationalisation in quality assurance standards. Through these recommendations, we help create a conducive environment for private colleges and universities to embrace internationalisation. Dr Conrado Iñigo, PACUCOA Chairman, related the activity to their own experience and spoke about how they measure internationalisation in private institutions such as through international mobility, English language provision, and global collaborative research among others.
National Teachers College’s Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr Edizon Fermin facilitated the workshop. He noted the relevance of existing result areas used by the Accrediting Agency of Chartered Colleges and Universities in the Philippines (AACCUP) for institutional accreditation of public institutions.
Education leaders shared that while these are still relevant, there must be a more explicit focus on areas that demonstrate the shift to flexible learning. Examples of these include digital mobility and online learning resources in lieu of physical mobility and infrastructures.
AACCUP representatives shared how they are now recalibrating these metrics to meet the needs brought about by the drastic changes due to the Covid-19 crisis as well as the growing demand of internationalisation across the world.
The draft quality assurance framework will be presented to CHED and relevant accrediting agencies and stakeholders by July 2020.
This session forms part of our thrust to promote internationalisation to more diverse partners in the Philippines — an initiative aligned with the Philippine government’s vision to deliver higher education that is at par with international standards and best practices.