This another of my attempts to echo the UP centennial lectures. Since my chair has given me the unenviable task of attending as much as possible these lectures, I might as well tell all FV readers what the lectures were all about. Besides many FV readers are UP alums and since there is renewed drive to get them to shell out their hard earned cash for Alma Mater, this is relevant for them. Also in this post I integrate all other issues on education that I have blogged about.
Professor Maris Diokno is the latest of the centennial fellows (November 18, 2008) to give a piece of her mind on something quite controversial and relevant. And this is the future of UP and Philippine higher education. What I found unorthodox about Maris Diokno’s lecture is that she started discussing the problems of UK, US and European higher education (HE) before she looked at UP and CHED.
Corporatization is the way to go
She said that a majority of universities worldwide are now corporatized and UP isn’t an exception. The university has to play to and with the market. Even Oxford, Cambridge and London (Diokno did a PhD in UCL) have received significant budget cuts and have to raise funds from increasing fees. With this development HE worldwide faces marginalization, by which she meant as fewer people able to participate in the HE system. In a corporatized HE system, students are considered clients and sources of revenue and not society’s investment for its future.
A shocking statistic then was presented and Diokno links this with corporatization. The Philippines which had the highest participation in HE in the Marcos years, now has been overtaken by Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam in HE participation. We can only conclude that 1) with increasing population, participation rates strongly favoured the rich and 2) the cost of participation in HE has increased. Both are sadly true. The turning point was 1990. Since then Pinoy participation in HE has declined.
Diokno suggests diversifying our HE portfolio by supporting junior colleges and technical schools. But that goes against Pinoy culture which gives value to a so called university college education. But in reality these colleges are actually just a wee bit better than high schools. Since many of them are State institutions, Diokno suggests they be shut down. But that is political suicide.
Nevertheless this problem of declining HE participation rates is global and will be more pronounced with the Bush initiated global recession.
Higher education quality and liberal arts education
Then she comes to the problem of HE quality. She starts out with the US and UK experience where in the former, universities had to create remedial or what in the UK system is called “bridging” or “qualifying” courses. She reported that 73% of American universities are doing this in their liberal arts programs. So the Jester-in-exile’s critcism of UP’s RGEP is not off the mark. The Americans have the same problem too and they have to spend lots of money for student support services. Again the quality of basic education is the problem here.
The problem of UP’s RGEP program was discussed at length. She bemoaned the remedial nature of the RGEP but this can’t be avoided. Our basic education system from which all college students come from, is bad. UP professors have to do remediation but many of them have PhDs but aren’t trained in teaching these remedial courses. The unfortunate results is that UP is lowering standards and Diokno believes this is the reason that heaps of laudes are graduated each year. Passing the RGEP courses has become effortless!
The solution is for UP to do CPR for its liberal education program. (not cardiopulmonary resucitation but Calibrated Peer Review) In CPR the various disciplinary clusters review the liberal arts course offerings. This was first tried in UCLA (which was the first university to be alarmed at remedialization) with successful results. The quality of courses improved.
UPCAT and admission policies
Then she touches on admission. Everyone agrees that the UPCAT isn’t perfect and with corporatization of private education, many can’t afford the fees and so have to try their luck with UP. A review of the UPCAT process is urgently needed. Despite reform initiatives in the past (experimental democratization, regional and public school quotas, “palugit” and combining the indices of high school performance and UPCAT performance) the reality is still that UPCAT passers tend to be from private schools.
This is not only a problem of UP but even in other state universities. University entrance exams have failed to adequately measure student qualification and this is complicated by the menu of review and remedial courses and cram programs available to those who can afford it. This is to be expected in a corporatized educational system.
Also in the same corporatized system, high schools tend to want their graduates higher acceptance rates at prestigious universities. Thus there is a problem with grade inflation. The UPCAT admission process reflects this problem so well that it has become critical.
The Oxford question
Diokno thus asks the Oxford question. Can we have social justice (assuming that universities are venues for such) with the present idea of competitive universities? This question was first asked by an Oxford academic,hence the name. This involves defining what a university really is for. My opinion is that in a corporatized system, social justice is not the function of a university. This is best left to other agents of the State. But the problem in UP and other state funded institutions is that it is taxpayer funded. UP thus is faced with political demands of democratizing admissions for social justice and maintaining competitiveness.
The prevailing paradigm is that a competitive university is essentially a research university. It is not surprising that UP, Ateneo, UST and DLSU have taken steps in that direction (with DLSU having an aggressive international marketing campaign). In UP’s case the 2008 Charter specifically states the national character of UP as a research university. However as in Oxford, the old function of teaching may have to be streamlined since resources have to be directed towards research. Since we are in a corporatized system, academics will have to spend much time negotiating for external grants. Ability to bring in cash is a prerequisite for academic tenure and promotion.
The whole discussion and debate about international university ratings is I believe, largely limited to UP, Ateneo, De La Salle and to some extent UST. It is not really a reflection of their academic standards. But the seeming fact that they are the most corporatized universities in the Philippines. I haven’t heard much of a peep on this issue from friends in UE, FEU or even Adamson.
UP as a vehicle for social mobility or just a job ticket?
Methinks Maris Diokno is a realist on the left and having been a VP for Academic Affairs accepts the fact that UP has become corporatized. She accepts the idea that UP cannot be a vehicle for social mobility. After all if a majority of the students are affluent, social mobility means getting a high paying job somewhere within the affluent class. Whereas before this meant crossing social and economic classes. UP has to rethink and reexamine the disconnect between admission policy and the university’s purpose.
And the faculty?
Diokno’s observations on the faculty and its problems have been discussed in papers such as the one written by former Faculty Regent Roland Simbulan. Simbulan’s paper alludes to Engels “The Condition of the Working Class in England”. Diokno largely agrees with what I blogged on FV on UP’s problems which are as old as the university itself.
But low professors pay has an easy solution and Diokno outlined the efforts even during the American colonial period to remedy the problem. I found it interesting that during the Commonwealth era, a government bill mandating a percentage of customs duties to go to UP’s coffers was presented before Congress. Well it never made it despite Presidential certification as urgent. Obviously some people don’t want a reduction in their “cut” for my Alma Mater!
What is a more serious problem for UP is attracting dedicated and competent teachers. I think Diokno isn’t terribly impressed with the junior faculty. (Diokno is a known terror at UP) But this isn’t a problem with UP alone. Even Ateneo and De La Salle which offer higher salaries can’t get good teachers too.
The purpose of the university
Diokno challenges UP and higher education to do the unthinkable. She didn’t specify what that is but to me that is defining the real purpose of the university and higher education for the Filipino. This again to a large extent reflects on a question in my blog post on basic education. What does education mean for us Pinoys?
Popularity: 4% [?]
“UP’s crop of students nowadays are apathetic.”
Sa sitwasyong ito, yari ang buong lipunang Pilipino. Nasaan na ang kamulatan?
Dear all
Call center degree: PUP offers a major I think along this line. But PUP is a polytechnic, and polytechnics together with technical colleges are the right venues to provide this degree.
I would probably be apoplectic if Ateneo de Manila, De La Salle Taft and the Royal and Pontifical University offers such degrees. These schools are universities or at least pretend to be. :-) BTW a prominent Ateneo academic who now heads that university’s prestigious social science think tank once said to me (when he was a lecturer in Australia) and I quote his exact
words
“Ateneo and De La Salle ARE PREP SCHOOLS pretending to be universities!”
But that if off topic but is of interest with our jobs and college course mismatch.
Amadeo:
Why do you call the Philippines “PI”? If you insist on doing so,I will call the USA “the 13 British Colonies”,or simply “Colonies”.
Por Dios por Santo! The 1935 Constitution and has settled the issue unless Congress proposes a change and the people ratify it. The name of the country is the Philippines in English, en la lengua Castellana “Filipinas”, sa Pambansang Wika at iba pang wika ng bansa “Pilipinas”
The Ca’t
May problema ako sa tawag mo na “Overseas FilAm”. Ang mga FilAm kasi tinanggap na ng Estados Unidos na maging mamamayanan ng bansa. Kung may green card ka nasa proseso ka na ng pagiging mamayanan ng bayan ni Barack Obama.
Kaya mas mayabuting itawag mo na lang sa sarili mo ay FilAm. Iyan ay nagapahiwatig ng iyong katayuan, ang pinili at pinangalingan mo. Huwag mo na tawagin ang sarili mo na “overseas”. May choice at karapatan ka namanatili diyan.
Ang mga OFW ay marahil di tatangappin ng bayan napinaglilinkuran nila. SMS, sila ay mga Fil lamang. Nararapat sila tawaging mga overseas Filipinos dahil wala silang choice kundi bumalik sa Pinas (Kahit naisin man nila manatili)!
Para sa lahat ng mambabasa ng blog na ito
Sa punto ng call center at export labour na kinaiinisan ng marami datapwat marami ay overseas Pinoy na, maaring makita ang solusyon sa binanggit nina Propesor Balicasan,Canlas at Fabella ng Econ noong ika 31 ng Enero sa kasalakuyang taon.
Nabanggit ng mga propesor na karamihan sa mga Pilipino ay maaring ituring na negosyante. Kaya lang sila ay nasa “underground economy” at walang pamamaraan makakakuha ng pautang at iba pang business support mula sa pamahalaan at pribadong sektor.
Ang suporta na binibigay ng pamahalaan ay napupunta sa kurakot.
Ang mga kurso sa mga unibersidad at kolehiyo ay hindi tumutugon sa likas na kakayahan ng mga Pilipino na makawala sa kahirapan sa pamagitan ng pagiging negosyante. Ang mga kurso ay nagtuturo ng kakayahan para bilang isang namamasukan.
So John Gokongwei was right in telling Ateneo’s graduating class that they never learned anything useful from their university if they remain employees.
Jeg, I agree with you. My PhD degree makes me the most uncompetitive dummy in the workforce.
Got to educate you again. I call myself overseas Fil-am because there are so many Fil-ams who are already in the PHilippines enjoying their retirement and their SSS pension.
They are those over 65 who can have their SSS pension and Medicare even if they stay in the Philippines until they die. They also don’t lose their citizenship unlike greencardholders who are
allowed to stay for six months only.
With the $700 to 1000 pension here in the US, where would you rather retire?
Ang pagiging successful businessman ay hindi nakukuha sa mga degrees.
Maraming Business degree holders at MBA degree holders ang hindi makapagtayo ng sariling negosyo.
Buti pa ang mga walang pinag-aralan, bigyan mo ng malaking plastic na lalagyan ng tubig, yelo at kunting kulay ng pineapple juice, meron ng sa malamig.
NA ngayon ay ginaya rin ng mga high profile businessmen at inilagay sa mga class na mall.
Pati ang carinderia at turo-turo ay nanggaling lang sa mga walang tinapos na business degree.
Ngayon nasa high-end resto na sila.
Sa Singapore noon, nagkaroon din ng revamp ang educational system nila para magkaroon ng entrepreneurial skills ang mga graduates, ayon, mga foreign investors pa rin ang mga naghahari sa S.
Ang issue tungkol sa distinction ng OFW at ng overseas Filipino immigrants ay tungkol sa remittances.
Hindi lang OFW ang nagpapadala ng pera sa Pilipinas.
Kaya dapat huwag sabihing OFW remittances dahil as far as I know, pag nagpapadala kami ng pera sa banko o kaya sa door to door, hindi kami tinatanong kung kami ay OFW o immigrant.
While I’m hardly a draconian nationalist who would deprive a person of her right to move and work wherever she may want, I do not think migration is a long-term, sustainable solution to chronic unemployment. It is a good thing for the short-term.
But this has been going ever since the doctors started migrating to the US even before martial law. Then came the big demand for medical technologists so that every parent wanted his son or daughter to become med tech.
After the med tech, the nurses came next until the Relief Nursing Act of the US expired in 1995 and recruitment was resumed again in early 2000 because of the demand for nurses as the law for the patient to nurse ratio was implemented especially in California.
The brawn drain started in early 70′s with the skilled laborers going to the Middle East.
IT is already 2008 and the demand for Filipino workers have not abated especially when the hotels in Saudi Arabia are going to be opened in the near future.
So what’s wrong with that. Dollars are pouring in.
These people also started businesses of their own from their savings
Why don’t you go to the province and see the businesses that OFW built rather than get some feedback from surveys or studies of your students?
As far as I know we are still talking about educational that is perceived to be producing graduates for labor market and BPO firms.
If you do not understand that, stick to politics.
Don’t look now, but someone here is on a tililing rampage. :D
If he is serious, time will come when he can not find employees for his conglomerate.
Thank me Benigno because I am too tired of looking at your abstract art aka schematic diagram.
They lead to nowhere. Kulang ka na naman sa pansin?
Why exactly does my brilliant framework “lead to nowhere” Madcat?
Explain please. ;)
The Ca’t
Got your point. What you wrote is the reason why I find dual citizenship questionable. If you are at home, do you still need foreign citizenship? I remember Rizal’s Canto de Maria Clara
“Dulce es la muerte por la propia patria”
“Tamis mamatay sa sariling bayan”
How can you die sweetly if you have two “sariling bayan”?
We have our paths to take. Many people think I’m crazy to have turned down 10 opportunities to get an American green card and Australian PR (permanent residency). I just got tired of being overseas Pinoy and decided to be Pinoy only.
I may have the last laugh. Look what’s happening with the US of A now?
Gokongwei’s speech is in the list of top 10 Pinoy graduation speeches ever. But then again,if he runs out of Atenistas for his conglomerate, he can get more La Sallistas, Tomasinos etc
There are several reasons why the US cit has to retain the foreign citizenship ( am just talking about US)
1. if the person is above 65, he is going to lose his SSS pension of he renouces his citizenship. This is not welfare. This is the contribution to the fund while he is working. He becomes entitled to it only after working for ten years. why forego the monthly pension which he brings to the Philippine financial system.
2. if the person is not retireable yet, many Fil-ams have petitioned relatives which take years before the visas are approved. Abandoning citizenship is also tantamount to abandoning the petitions.
Staying in the Philippines while waiting for the approval do not nullify the petition.
3. We have to admit that Fil-ams have their families both in the US and in the Philippines. Abandoning the citizenship or surrendering the US passport will be difficult for them to visit the relatives in the US.
Yeah and after reading it, I can’t laugh. These are the people exhorting the young graduates to go into business while their conglomerate buys small businesses to eliminate potential business rivals.
hahaha
And I thought you know the strategies of these big business to gain business monopoly.
You may want to know about the story about Halili Beer and also study the impact of these big malls to small retailers.
Hindi naipapakita ang pagmamahal sa bayan sa pamamagitan ng pagtanggi sa oportunidad kung saan makakatulong ka sa kababayan.
Ang mga US citizen ba dito na pumunta sa US para makapagtrabaho at kumita at magpaaral ng mga kamag-anak o kaya mga mahirap na nangangailangan ng tulong na pinansiyal na naging mabuting mamamayan imbes na naging pasanin pa ng lipunan ay masasabing hindi nagmahal sa bayan?
Ang mga US citizen ba dito na nagbigay ng capital sa mga kamag-anak para magnegosyo ay masasabing walang nagawa sa sariling bayan?
MAituturing ba silang taksil sa bayan kung sila ay hindi mamatay sa sariling bansa pero halos ng kinita nila ay napadala nila sa Pilipinas?
At ang mga tinanim nila ay umuusbong din dahil ang mga pinag-aral nila ay masasabing nagbabayad din
sa pamamagitan ng pagpaaral sa kanilang mga kamag-anak.
Palagay ko ang nasyonalismo ay hindi dahil sa kulay ng passpor na dala mo kung hindi ang iyong hindi pagtalikod sa pinaggalingan. Siguro kung tutuusin ko ang mga UP almuni dito sa US mas marami pang naibigay kaysa sa mga alumni na nandiyan dahil ang mga graduates na nandiyan ay hindi parin maganda ang appreciation na ibinigay sa kanila ng unibersidad na pinaggalingan nila.
Caffeine_sparks:
You have expounded high-minded ideas about society’s and government’s responsibility, the perils of unrestricted migration, etc; but to be expected coming from academia which is known for its avowed orientation.
But do they address and square away with the realities obtaining in the real world? I would suggest that we address our problems to real life situations with real life feasible solutions – or at least, tolerable solutions. Not with best-scenarios that have very little glimmer of being accomplished.
I am reminded of a little NATO assessment meeting after a successful execution of one of their programs, where the French diplomat stood up and took exception of the overall positive assessment: “Yes, but I doubt your methods would work in theory.”
Blackshama:
Sorry, but our “pettiness” slip appears to be showing. Anyway, so as not to appear rude or a rube in somebody else’s backyard, I gladly take back the word which my friends and acquaintances here and abroad continue to refer to the old homeland for short. So erase PI, and substitute with Republic of the Philippines.
BTW, I could not care less how you call the US of A. It couldn’t possibly change it. And anyway, it has been called all sorts of names already; no new one to derogate it is possible.
**********************
Lastly, just a friendly “what gives” with the sudden “gear shifts” to Tagalog musings in the commentaries? Are we non-tagalogs excluded from the huddle? Don’t get me wrong, I know and can speak Tagalog since we studied it in school and I personally stayed in Manila for several years. Still I confess I experience some hesitation due to unfamiliarity reading it and I know many of my friends simply have difficulty with it.
I just got tired of being overseas Pinoy and decided to be Pinoy only.
I may have the last laugh. Look what’s happening with the US of A now? – Blackshama
I feel this comment came completely off left field. I am sorry to say that I cannot find any rationale why in expressing the “rightness” of one’s choice re where one wants to live or what citizenship to pursue, one has to deride the other choices, whether expressly or impliedly.
Shouldn’t it be enough to simply extol one’s personal choices, and to leave the rest unsaid? About 4 million of our compatriots live in the US, are you implying that you are having your last laugh at their expense?
BTW, if we all cringe at what is happening in the US today, worry not it should come to these shores sooner than we think.
Blackshama
“How can you die sweetly if you have two “sariling bayan”?”
LOL that’s what happen when you read too much of Rizal :)
and Dual citizenship is a privilege. It is a choice. It has economic benefit. And lastly, who cares?
Leytenian
Tradition. I read seriously Rizal since my family has a nationalist and anti-clerical tradition with my great great lolos tortured by American soldiers in the Philippine-American war or have been part of the Revolution against Spain. One of them witnessed the Rizal execution and joined the revolution afterwards. It is from this tradition that I find dual citizenship questionable. I have an uncle who has taken US citizenship, when asked about recacquiring Philippine citizenship, he declined saying that I have only one allegiance and that is to the United States. Well said! He told me that he belongs to two nations and that isn’t a choice and a precious privilege. But allegiance has to be freely chosen.
Amadeo
Anyway I’m not denigrating overseas Pinoys and the 4M FilAms, what I sardonically rebut are those who consider my decision to reject opportunities for green cards and PR status as “stupid”. Believe me in any Pinoy community overseas there is this minority. I have met these kind of people and sometimes I find their remarks insulting.
Also it doesn’t denigrate the country I admire if I call her tha “13 Colonies”. That is part of her history. But I never have referred to the USA other than as the United States of America or America for short.
I do really hope FilAms make America shine once more, make sure she holds on to the ideas that inspired other nations to free themselves, and of course advance diversity in a nation whose liberties are founded upon that.
I can say this from my heart since in some sense I am Louisianian, an American too. I really loved the State of Louisiana and felt so much at home there.
Also an Aussie mate! If you live in someplace long enough, you can’t help it but be part of the place! I like breakfast sausage, meat pie and beer as well as Jambalaya! :-)
We enroll in a course but what the university produces is a discipline in both its academic and value sense. More so, how to manage our intellectual capacity. I think the university specifically its undergraduate course does not produce experts, specialists, destabilizers,militants, generals etc. Expertise and specialization are I believe a result of what how we apply the discipline outside the university.
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