THE DROP in world rankings of two Philippine universities prompted the Commission on Higher Education to call on higher education institutions to improve the credentials of their teaching staff and engage in more research from other countries.

CHED Chairman Prospero De Vera said that faculty members need to complete their degrees and have continual professional development, strengthen relationships between local and foreign universities, and raise total support for higher education research.

“Many of our faculty members still need to improve their credentials, finish their PhDs. For example, dapat makapag-publish ka sa journals para makilala ka sa ibang bansa at ‘pag nag-research kayo, papayag sila mag-research kayo together,” De Vera said.

The University of the Philippines dropped three places to 399th spot in the Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings, while the University of Santo Tomas fell to the 1,001-1,200 bracket from the 801-1,000 bracket in the previous year.

The Ateneo de Manila University and De La Salle University maintained their rankings at 601-650 and 800-1000, respectively.

Stressing that CHED is financing individuals who want to study abroad, De Vera encouraged teachers to apply for scholarships.

“The funds available now in CHED is at all-time high compared to previous years. Pero ‘yong intake ng mga mag-aabroad, parang hindi kasintaas ng expected,” he said.

The CHED chief reiterated that HEIs can also boost their internationalization by taking advantage of the present remote learning arrangement.

“Philippine public universities cannot hire foreigners to teach under civil service rules and find it difficult to attract foreign students due to inadequate facilities such as dormitories. But now, because of flexible learning you can have foreign lecturers in your faculty and do it electronically,” he said.