PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. once again recognized the achievements in Philippine higher education in his third State of the Nation Address manifesting the sector’s prompt response to the educational reforms and directives of the President.

President Marcos Jr. reported the increase in the number of Philippine higher education institutions that have been internationally ranked, particularly the growth in the visibility of state universities and local colleges in the global rankings.

“Last year we reported that our higher education institutions are gaining international rankings for all the right reasons. As further evidenced, 87 of our higher education institutions have now made it into various world university rankings, 51 of them are public universities and colleges,” Marcos said.

The President cited the excellent performance of Mabalacat City College and Samar State University for digital technology and innovation in the global arena.

“Of our globally ranked HEIs, 63 have made it into the WURI global top 300 Innovative Universities,” Marcos said.

“In the face of the tough global competition, the Mabalacat City College in Pampanga was awarded the Technological or Digital Innovation of the Year. And for the second straight year, Samar State University topped the rankings for digitally pioneering R&D project entries,” the chief executive added.

Mabalacat City College bagged the Technological or Digital Innovation of the Year in Times Higher Education Awards Asia 2024 for its MCC Smart Classroom which provided flexible access to quality education to all working students, PWDs, and those facing challenges in attending the traditional classroom set-up.

Meanwhile, Samar State University topped the 2023 World University Rankings for Innovation’s 4th Industrial Revolution category for their project for community disaster mitigation – the “3D Visualization of Citywide Geohazard Mapping and Simulation of What-if Scenarios Using Geospatial Research and Data Analytics.”

Since the 2nd SONA last year, when the President reported 52 HEIs were ranked internationally, the Commission on Higher Education intensified efforts to support HEIs to internationalize.

“CHED has been providing numerous opportunities for Philippine HEIs to internationalize including bringing them to international education fairs, sponsoring officials of selected universities to travel to other countries for immersion and possible program adoption, and continuing workshops among PH HEIs for global ranking requirements and compliance,” CHED Chairperson Prospero De Vera III said.

The President also underscored the ongoing efforts of the government to strengthen and increase the country’s human resources for health through higher education.

“Aside from our aggressive hiring efforts, we have enhanced medical and allied health programs, allocated seed funds for public medical schools, launched scholarships, and reviewed and upskilled programs. These are to support the medical and nursing professions, with the goal to strengthen and increase our human resources for health,” Marcos said.

Through CHED, 22 state universities and colleges are now offering Doctor of Medicine with more than 3,000 medical student scholars who will serve the underserved communities in the country after they graduate.

The CHED is also actively enhancing curriculum for medical and allied health programs through its Technical Working Group and partnering withDepartment of Health and Private Sector Advisory Council for Health to upskill medical and nursing graduates.

Moreover, Marcos noted the significant increase in the enrollment rate in higher education primarily facilitated by the continuous provision of free higher education.

“The higher education community is grateful and proud to be once again mentioned in the SONA of the President for our significant achievements in higher education. It is because we have an education champion President that we continue to improve our quality, accessibility, and competitiveness,” De Vera said.