SENATOR RISA Hontiveros on Thursday urged higher education institutions to strike a balance between preserving the higher education goals and the economic goals.

Hontiveros made the appeal during the continuation of a hybrid hearing of the Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture on the proposed creation of a Congressional Oversight Committee on Education to review and assess the Philippine education system.

The senator noted that there is “push and pull” situation between what the higher education system would like to provide and what the industry needs after the graduation of students.

“So where can we strike a balance? I’m looking for an arrangement where our education stakeholders will be batting for the primacy of all the educational goals and then the private sector, the business community will be putting also their own best practices models on how to get the most out of our education system for the world of work,” Hontiveros said.

Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges President Tirso Ronquillo said that while science and technology are considered a prime mover, other disciplines like teachers’ education and liberal arts should not be left behind.

Meanwhile, Senator Imee Marcos cited a report stressing the need for a common language to overcome the communication barrier in education.

“I’m just curious where we would like to land on this and finally make a decision on the many controversies that surround languages in our archipelago,” Marcos said.