Mapua trailblazes road to globalization of education in Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — With the technological breakthrough brought about by the use of online tools at the height of the pandemic, Philippine schools quickly adapted to the digital transformation to ensure the continuity of learning through a health crisis.

Mapúa University, an affiliate of the Yuchengco Group of Companies, is paving the way for the adoption of outcomes-based education (OBE) to make the country’s education system more integrated into the global system.

“Certain professions, through international bodies, have formulated and prescribed desired educational program outcomes, which have served as de facto international standards. In adhering to these outcomes, Philippine programs can be at the same level as those in other parts of the world through the OBE system. This development is most pronounced in the fields of engineering, computing, health, accounting, etc.,” said Reynaldo Vea, president and CEO of Mapua University.

He said another vehicle is the curriculum design to comply with regional and global qualifications frameworks, such as that of ASEAN. The regional agreement on the required graduate attributes of higher education programs will facilitate the mobility of learners and graduates, he added.

In 2022, Mapúa University made its debut on Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings (WUR) 2023 list as one of the only four Philippine universities that made the list, even ranking second in research in the Philippines. In addition, Mapúa was included in the QS Asia University Rankings Top 100 Best Universities in Southeast Asia. The university also received the QS-Wharton Digital Readiness Award (Gold) for the revolutionary Mapúa Ubiquitous Online Experience (UOx).

It was also in 2022 that Mapúa launched international collaborations with Arizona State University (ASU) for business and health sciences programs and the Fintech and Regulatory Innovation (FTRI) program with the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) of the University of Cambridge Judge Business School and Fintech Alliance of the Philippines.

With Mapúa’s collaboration with ASU, Vea said Filipinos now have access to a top-notch business and health sciences education. Likewise, the partnerships to power the FTRI program bring to the Philippine fintech community a high-quality continuing education program in the field.

“Our initiatives boost our students’ agencies and chances of getting employment and getting admitted to graduate schools all over the world. It gives stature and, hence, confidence to our faculty members, as they seek to participate in research and education projects worldwide. This also inspires our officers and staff as they belong to and are working in a world-class institution of higher learning,” Vea said.