Philippine Education System

[Greypilgrim]

Originally Posted by calaguyo

We do not need a bunch of degree holders, PhD holders because this country is in Newly Industrialized status and there are huge demand for low skilled/vocational/BPO workers in the future.

We do not want an Architect to do a draftsman job or a call center job!

We do not need PhD degree holders? Are you serious? We have tons of graduates but very few pursue graduate studies in engineering and sciences. In a knowledge based global economy, a country's competitiveness is dependent on how its institutions create new knowledge and technologies. That's why countries such as The United States, Germany, Japan, and Korea are highly industrialized. If Hyundai didn't invest much in their R&D, they will not be able overtake some Japanese car manufacturers. You cannot get competitive researchers from a pool of BS graduates or even MS.

[calaguyo]

Originally Posted by Nabartek

The problem is the lack of jobs for these people.

You see, we have many Engineers but why do we not have progressive infrastructures? Why don't we have a solid manufacturing? Why is it that despite the large number of Nursing graduates, the nurse-patient ratio is too high? The biggest problem we have is not we have to many college graduates but rather the workforce, professional and non-professional are under-utilized. We even export non-professional labor!

So you want everyone in the Philippines to be manual laborers and call center agents?

That is a bad long term plan and very vulnerable to outside changes. We need professionals and jobs for them to create a strong backbone for our economy. Not an economy reliant of labor export(professionals and non-professionals) and foreign investors(they can always relocate to where it is more cost-effective)

What the government can do is to "diversify" the professional field rather than everyone going to a few majors. Say, give scholarship for those who will study film and music and other arts, consumer studies, animation, agriculture experts, mathematics, sciences etc. There are much more "professional jobs" outside Engineering, architecture, Nursing but most people flock to those majors.

What I'm trying to say is the CHED must follow to the economic model this country want to achieve in short-term. Let's say the demand for voiced-BPO agents is 1M by 2016, then CHED must prepare for this demand. If they want to revive the manufacturing, we need more pools of technicians and machine operators.

First hand experience, yung mga operators namin noon sa semicon na pinagtatrabahuan ko dati eh mga degree holders pero galing sa mga di kilalang schools.

I understand the under-utilization of our professionals but the working environment is their playground unless they work overseas where they can learn R&D and Design. But as long as they stay in the Philippines where the opportunity to learn is small, they will be remain as under-utilized. Kaya nga dapat papasukin na natin ang mga foreign investors ng buong buo. Kasi sila ang magbibigay ng technical know-how sa atin.

I know what you want us to achieve, but let's be realistic.There are still many stages before we reach that goal of being highly developed country.

PHL current status - NIC (Newly Industrialized Country)
PHL short term goal (5-10 yrs)- DC (Developing Country)
PHL long term goal (15-20 yrs)- HDC (Highly Developed Country)
PHL ulitmate goal (30 yrs) - KBEC (Knowledge Based Economy Country)

[calaguyo]

Originally Posted by Greypilgrim

We do not need PhD degree holders? Are you serious? We have tons of graduates but very few pursue graduate studies in engineering and sciences. In a knowledge based global economy, a country's competitiveness is dependent on how its institutions create new knowledge and technologies. That's why countries such as The United States, Germany, Japan, and Korea are highly industrialized. If Hyundai didn't invest much in their R&D, they will not be able overtake some Japanese car manufacturers. You cannot get competitive researchers from a pool of BS graduates or even MS.

I would love to have more PhD holders in this country. I myself wants to pursue a higher degree. But basing it on our current economy status, if there is something na dapat naka focus tayo ay ang pagpopool ng mga educated labors for possible influx of FDI and new investments in the next 5-10 years.

US, Germany and Japan are super-powerful countries ever since. The development starts on these countries. Mas mabuting i-compare mo ang Pinas sa mga countries like Taiwan, Singapore and Hongkong , these countries have no significance to world's development in 20th century, they were all nothing back then. But they started at the very bottom, they started as manual laborers and workers for foreign companies. But look at them now, they have surpassed the stages and now a highly developed countries. Most of their degree holders are taking up PHD's and Masters because that's what their current economy calls for.

Wag tayong masyadong magadali, kelangan muna natin ng gradual progress.

[Greypilgrim]

Originally Posted by rider2

Absolutely...even UPD, which has the highest concentration of PhDs among universities in the country, is not ranking high enough...UP is now constructing new buildings/research centres in all the basic sciences and engineering fields...I'm just hoping that they will utilize these in the most effective way.

What I mean here is that UP should not concentrate on undergraduate education .... Because the UP campuses are the only universities equipped for real research, especially in sciences and engineering, then government should use UP resources to train more teachers/professors from different universities/colleges by giving scholarships toward completion of their Masters and PhDs...this way, more and more students will have the opportunities to learn from professors with better training.
Incidentally, one of the criteria in ranking where PH universities do not do well on is the very low number of PhDs in their faculty.

I agree.

Here's Caesar Saloma's take on this. You already know him. He's currently the chancellor of UP, the former Dean of our college and former director of our institute, the National Institute of Physics. He's a world class physicist who took his BS, MS, and Phd in UP.

A great institution of higher learning is characterized by the excellence of its graduate programs. It is the quality of the Ph.D. degree program, not B.S. nor M.S., that sets the reputation of a science or engineering department. This is because a Ph.D. degree is a research degree that is awarded to a graduate student after he has contributed something new to the body of scientific knowledge. The said requirement is consistent with the goal of science, which is to improve the accuracy of our understanding of how Nature works.

According to the highly respected university ranking system that was developed by Shanghai Jiao Tung University, the strength of a university is measured by the number of Nobel prize and Fields medal winners among its alumni and in its faculty and staff, the number of highly cited researchers and the publications produced by its staff in the high-impact journals Science and Nature and other peer-reviewed journals that are abstracted in the Science Citation Index and the Social Science Citation Index.

It is evident that publication in a peer-reviewed journal is the single most important measure of scientific productivity — the fundamental building block of one’s scientific career. No one has ever been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics, Chemistry or Medicine without publishing at least one original scientific paper. Not even the quintessential scientist Albert Einstein who received the Prize in 1921 for his work on the photoelectric effect and quantum theory.

I expect faculty members to supervise Ph.D. students. Hence, faculty members who teach in graduate programs must have the desired Ph.D. degrees. Many Philippine universities have difficulty offering competitive graduate programs in the sciences and engineering due to the lack of qualified Ph.D. degree holders in their faculty roster — not more than 10 percent of faculty members in our higher education system today are Ph.D. degree holders.

Moreover, only a small fraction of Ph.D. faculty members in leading Philippine universities, including the University of the Philippines, have successfully mentored Ph.D. students. The lack of competent Ph.D. supervisors continues to be the most glaring weakness of our higher education system today.

Great mentors are the most effective recruiters of young scientific talents. They play a key role in containing the diaspora of young Filipino scientific talents to the G-7 countries. The brain drain is not caused by lack of patriotism but by the narrowness of the spectrum of viable graduate programs that are available locally.


http://www.philstar.com/science-and-...s-home-country

[Greypilgrim]

Originally Posted by calaguyo

I would love to have more PhD holders in this country. I myself wants to pursue a higher degree. But basing it on our current economy status, if there is something na dapat naka focus tayo ay ang pagpopool ng mga educated labors for possible influx of FDI and new investments in the next 5-10 years.

US, Germany and Japan are super-powerful countries ever since. The development starts on these countries. Mas mabuting i-compare mo ang Pinas sa mga countries like Taiwan, Singapore and Hongkong , these countries have no significance to world's development in 20th century, they were all nothing back then. But they started at the very bottom, they started as manual laborers and workers for foreign companies. But look at them now, they have surpassed the stages and now a highly developed countries. Most of their degree holders are taking up PHD's and Masters because that's what their current economy calls for.

Wag tayong masyadong magadali, kelangan muna natin ng gradual progress.

Why can't we produce manual laborers and high quality researchers at the same time? This is the 21st century where everything matters. We shouldn't be myopic and just concentrate on immediate economic rewards. Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong in their road to progress did not neglect their science and technology. In fact they invested heavily in their higher education. If they didn't, they are probably middle income countries and not as high tech economies today.

I agree with you that we need to regulate the courses that we're offering. But we just can't neglect our graduate programs in engineering and the sciences. That will be our investment for our future.

There is some progress in industry and academe collaboration in recent years. S&T parks are being put up or conceptualized.

It is not just in the economic front that R&D is useful. The AGT/Monorail test track in UP Diliman by UP and DOST is a testament to the importance of academe and industry cooperation in solving our problems like transportation in this stage of our development. By utilizing indigenous technologies, our government can save a lot of money and minimize corruption. The companies involved in these tie ups with the academe can gain new knowledge and expertise. In the future they can be competitive enough to export rail technologies. The academe can also gain by being able to commercialize its researches. There will be more incentive for scientists to stay in the country.

Hindi tayo nagmamadali. Baby steps pa nga mga to para ma secure future natin. Kung hindi ngayon, kelan pa? Noon pa nga to dapat eh.

[calaguyo]

Originally Posted by Greypilgrim

Why can't we produce manual laborers and high quality researches at the same time? This is the 21st century where everything matters.

I agree with you that we need to regulate the courses that we're offering. But we just can't neglect our graduate programs in engineering and the sciences. That will be our investment for our future.

I agree! I hope UP or Ateneo in the future could have partnership with worlds prestigious university like Harvard, Yale, Duke etc...or kahit sa NUS, HKUST and Tsinghua. Follow their curriculum and teaching strategy. I am sure, maraming mae-engganyo mag PHD or Masters.

Like me, though I have sufficient budget for my Masters degree I have a feeling na waste of time and money kung sa Pilipinas lang din ako mag aaral With the same amount (but with subsidy) I can earn my degree in Singapore where I am now based.

Still regarding with laborers:
Still the major concern is the cost of education. In the Philippines where "Education is the Key" thinking is prevalent, we all want to have education. There are parents na nangungutang pa or nagbebenta ng kabuhayan para lang mapagtapos ng degree ang mga anak.

I hope the government once again review the education system in this country. Sana may standard screening process sa pagpasok sa unibersidad just like the defunct NCEE. Yung mga hindi makakapasa, their option is only to get a vocational diploma or short courses program. It is more cost effective of getting a formal education.

So in this case, government should consider the following:
1. Vocational institutions must adhere to CHED qualifications through yearly assessment.
2. Job security program for vocational degree holders. Like for example, a voiced-based BPO must only be catered by vocational degree holders. No other professions can penetrate this industry unless in a support group.
3. Should the vocational degree holder wants to pursue his/her university degree, a 2 years solid work experience (related to his/her course) is required. Let's say, a person with diploma in Drafting Technology can take up degree in Architecture provided he completed a 2-year solid drafting experience.

[Greypilgrim]

Originally Posted by calaguyo

I agree! I hope UP or Ateneo in the future could have partnership with worlds prestigious university like Harvard, Yale, Duke etc...or kahit sa NUS, HKUST and Tsinghua. Follow their curriculum and teaching strategy. I am sure, maraming mae-engganyo mag PHD or Masters.

Like me, though I have sufficient budget for my Masters degree I have a feeling na waste of time and money kung sa Pilipinas lang din ako mag aaral With the same amount (but with subsidy) I can earn my degree in Singapore where I am now based.

Still regarding with laborers:
Still the major concern is the cost of education. In the Philippines where "Education is the Key" thinking is prevalent, we all want to have education. There are parents na nangungutang pa or nagbebenta ng kabuhayan para lang mapagtapos ng degree ang mga anak.

I hope the government once again review the education system in this country. Sana may standard screening process sa pagpasok sa unibersidad just like the defunct NCEE. Yung mga hindi makakapasa, their option is only to get a vocational diploma or short courses program. It is more cost effective of getting a formal education.

So in this case, government should consider the following:
1. Vocational institutions must adhere to CHED qualifications through yearly assessment.
2. Job security program for vocational degree holders. Like for example, a voiced-based BPO must only be catered by vocational degree holders. No other professions can penetrate this industry unless in a support group.
3. Should the vocational degree holder wants to pursue his/her university degree, a 2 years solid work experience (related to his/her course) is required. Let's say, a person with diploma in Drafting Technology can take up degree in Architecture provided he completed a 2-year solid drafting experience.

I edited my post pala.

Actually may mga linkages naman tayo sa mga universities abroad. And I believe the curriculum in UP is very competitive though it doesn't reflect in university rankings published by first world institutions because of some of their metrics. One is the number of international students and professors. UP give priority to Filipino students and they don't advertise to attract international students. Our constitution also does not allow foreigners to have permanent posts as professors in local universities. The number of high impact researches in UP is still below international standards but there's a lot of improvement in recent years. Mahirap lang talaga kalabananin yung mga bansang may budget para sa mga to.

Sa ngayon eto yung meron tayo.

The National Science Consortium

The National Science Consortium was organized in 2009 by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in line with its Accelerated Science and Technology Human Resource Development Program (ASTHRDP). Its aim is to enhance the capability of the Philippine higher education system to produce technically competent PhD and MS graduates by providing ample graduate scholarships to promising Filipino scientists and researchers, and by promoting resource sharing and information exchange through collaborative academic and research activities among Philippine universities with established PhD programs in the basic and applied sciences and mathematics, including forestry and agriculture, animal science, fisheries and public health. The current school year, SY 2010 — 2011, is the first year of implementation of the Consortium.

The Consortium was initiated during the term of Secretary Estrella Alabastro and implemented today with the full support of current DOST Secretary Mario Montejo. It presently consists of 10 colleges and schools from seven Philippine universities, namely University of the Philippines, Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University, University of Santo Tomas, Central Luzon State University, Visayas State University and Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology. The Science Education Institute (SEI) of the DOST found that only seven universities in the country have established PhD degree programs in the basic and applied sciences and mathematics. The four Consortium colleges from UP are based in UP Diliman, UP Los Baños, UP Manila and UP Visayas.

Available CHED records reveal that in 2009, the Philippine higher education system was made up of 1,758 universities and colleges, of which more than 88 percent were privately owned. Thirty-nine percent (1.081 million) of all undergraduates were enrolled in 190 state and local government-supported universities and colleges during SY 2009-2010. In SY 2004-2005, less than 10 percent of faculty members had PhD degrees implying that only a few institutions of higher learning are capable of offering viable (advanced) graduate programs particularly in the natural sciences, mathematics and engineering.

The Consortium is managed by the Steering Council that is composed of the deans of the 10 member colleges together with the DOST-SEI executive director. The Council serves as a policy-making body that also closely monitors and evaluates the performance of the Consortium program. In October 2010, a total of 764 full-time PhD faculty members worked for the Consortium with the UPLB Graduate School and the UP Diliman College of Science employing the largest numbers at 244 and 147, respectively.

Before the Consortium was organized, the chosen colleges produced an average total of 74.7 PhD and 247.4 MS graduates per school year with UPLB Graduate School and the UP Diliman College of Science producing 97 and 48 MS graduates, respectively. The formation of the Consortium is expected to increase collective production to around 250 PhD and 350 MS graduates per year by creating an enabling environment wherein a PhD faculty member is able to graduate successfully one PhD and one MS student every three and two years, respectively.

The Consortium is the third advanced manpower development program formed by the DOST in partnership with selected Philippine universities in the last thirty years. In the mid-1980s, the UP-Ateneo-De La Salle PhD Consortium was organized for the breeder sciences, followed by the World Bank-funded Engineering and Science Education Program (ESEP) in the 1990s that included the acquisition of research equipment and facilities. Both programs produced a number of PhD graduates who are now holding key academic, research and administrative positions in local universities and research centers.

The National Science Consortium is established to address the persistent lack of Filipino scientists and researchers who would enable our country to compete economically with its neighbors and generate prosperity for its rapidly increasing population. According to the UNESCO Science Report 2010, the researcher population density of the Philippines (with one per 12,345 population in 2009) is incontestably lower than those of Singapore (one per 164), Thailand (one per 3,215), Indonesia (one per 6,172) and Vietnam (one per 8,695).

The demographics of the PhD faculty members who are presently serving in the Consortium are also a cause of great concern. More than 55 percent of them are 51 years old and above, which means that our current and already limited national capability to train the next generation of scientists and researchers will be critically diminished toward the end of 2025 if our scientific enterprise system is unable to replace those who are retiring from service. In the UPLB Graduate School, almost 69 percent of PhD faculty members are at least 51 years of age. The demographics in other Consortium schools do not also fare any much better. The desirable age distribution is one in which there are more young assistant professors than associate professors who would also outnumber the senior full professors. A graduate student needs to earn his or her PhD degree before the age of 30 to have a better chance of contributing something significantly new to the body of scientific knowledge during his productive professional life.

The Consortium awarded a total of new 69 PhD and 322 MS scholarships in SY 2010-2011. This is in addition to the 212 PhD and 868 MS scholarships that were already allocated under ASTHRDP in the previous years before the Consortium was put into place. The more difficult challenge is to graduate these scholars in due time.

Human capital is the equivalent economic value that is placed on the skills and know-how of the available labor force. Together with stable rule of law, human capital plays a vital role in achieving national prosperity especially in a knowledge-based global economy. Despite the fact that it has no natural resources, Singapore became the richest country in the ASEAN due to its highly successful ability to generate and utilize intangible human capital.



http://www.philstar.com/science-and-...nce-consortium

The paragraph in bold give emphasis to our need to produce more Phds now because of our aging pool of advanced degree holders. Our hopes of developing an advanced economy in 30 years is in jeopardy if this can't be corrected.

Sa batch ko may mga nakapagtapos na rin ng PhD from universities in Europe and the US. Mga nasa 29-30 years old pa lang. Mostly sila yung mga halimaw sa batch namin, Magna at Summa cum laudes. Mga valedictorian at honors din from Pisay.Yung Summa cum laude namin sa Physics eh bumalik na ata sa UP from New York.

There is hope.

[rider2]

Originally Posted by calaguyo

Do you know much professionals this country is producing year in year out? I am not sure of the actual figures but the fact that there are not much opportunities awaiting for them simply means we have oversupply of professionals!

Take for example ECE, there 10000+ ECE graduates taking ECE board examination every year. But how many percentage of them will be employed, under-employed (like call-center job) and unemployed? How about Nurses?

Latest statistics showed that 20% of our entire working population are UNDER-EMPLOYED. You might be wondering, why we have this huge number of under-employed? I can think of 2 reasons:

1. Over-supply of professionals
2. Inadequate opportunities.

For over-supply of professionals, it is about time that CHED must do an intense assessment of all our HEI's. This country has about 2000 institutions offering tertiary education. But how many of them are actually performing well in terms of high-quality curriculum, screening process, good facilities and PRC performance. Ang lugi dito ay mismong estudyante, magbabayad sila ng tuition fee for a 4-5 year degree pero after graduation eh under-employed? Di ba parang sayang lang sila ng pera?

Bottomline, produce only what is needed. Those diploma mills schools must be closed down while further enhance the remaining ones! We do not need a bunch of degree holders, PhD holders because this country is in Newly Industrialized status and there are huge demand for low skilled/vocational/BPO workers in the future.

We do not want an Architect to do a draftsman job or a call center job!

Let me address some of the arguments highlighted above.


First...We have oversupply of professionals? What kind, and at what level? Most of them don't have graduate degrees...their level of expetise preclude them from doing serious research, and may not be effective when employed as instructors/professors in our universities


Second...one of the major reasons why we have underemplyment is that we don't generate enough highly-skilled jobs for them...and just how can we generate these jobs? We need to develop our R&D industry from within PH. Technology transfer has very limited advantage in this very competitive world. Developing from within PH requires the kind of manpower that we currently don't have...they are those with graduate degrees (see Greypilgrim's posts).


Third...we have more than 2000 institutions of higher learning, many of which are diploma mills...why do you think is that? because we just don't have enough teachers with graduate degrees who can provide quality education in these institutions...again, it points to PH needing to train/produce more PhDs


Fourth...Produce only what we need...correct! Yet as I stated above, we are not producing enough teachers/professionals who have graduate degrees. So let's use our best institutions such as the UP System, AdMU, DLSU and uST (to a lesser extent) to produce more PhDs...first to populate our universities with well trained professors with PhDs, then strengthen our various industries/corporations/businesses to encourage them to engage in R&Ds...this is the only way to develop highly-skilled jobs that would solve underemployment....


As far as vocational training is concerned, you are again correct...we equally need them, we cannot ignore them, and the government is NOT ignoring them...that is why PH has two-pronged approach, one under CHED and the other under TESDA....the key word is EQUALLY...we need to approach it in a balanced and more holistic way

[rider2]

Originally Posted by calaguyo

So in this case, government should consider the following:
1. Vocational institutions must adhere to CHED qualifications through yearly assessment.
2. Job security program for vocational degree holders. Like for example, a voiced-based BPO must only be catered by vocational degree holders. No other professions can penetrate this industry unless in a support group.
3. Should the vocational degree holder wants to pursue his/her university degree, a 2 years solid work experience (related to his/her course) is required. Let's say, a person with diploma in Drafting Technology can take up degree in Architecture provided he completed a 2-year solid drafting experience.

Just some clarifications...vocational trainings are under TESDA...CHED regulates the more academically-intensive programs, such as those requiring at least a bachelor's degree.


Under the proposed K-12, a high-school (Grade 12) graduate should be able to do a call-center job and other semi-skilled positions such as an entry-level mecahnic/electrician job, as it is currently being practiced in developed countries.


Vocational and bachelor programs are usually very different. As an example, a Math course taken as part of a Bachelor's degree can very much more intensive (i.e., greater depth and breadth) than a Math course taken as a part of a vocational program. They are usually not interchangeable, unless both are part of a ladderized program. laderrized programs are those that confer a vocational diploma at the end of the 2nd year, then a bachelor's degree at the end of 4th year


In Canada, students who prefer vocational training do not really need to go to a vocational college, since their high school education already included the basics in these trades. To get their license as a mechanic/electrician/etc., all they need is to apprentice in an accredited workplace under a licensed practitioner of the trade...there are many variants practiced in many developed countries...the government just have to do its own research, compare and choose what system is best for the country, or we can have a hybrid of many systems know to to be effective in highly successful countries such as Singapore and Canada, not to mention the US

[Greypilgrim]

Originally Posted by rider2

Let me address some of the arguments highlighted above.


First...We have oversupply of professionals? What kind, and at what level? Most of them don't have graduate degrees...their level of expetise preclude them from doing serious research, and may not be effective when employed as instructors/professors in our universities


Second...one of the major reasons why we have underemplyment is that we don't generate enough highly-skilled jobs for them...and just how can we generate these jobs? We need to develop our R&D industry from within PH. Technology transfer has very limited advantage in this very competitive world. Developing from within PH requires the kind of manpower that we currently don't have...they are those with graduate degrees (see Greypilgrim's posts).


Third...we have more than 2000 institutions of higher learning, many of which are diploma mills...why do you think is that? because we just don't have enough teachers with graduate degrees who can provide quality education in these institutions...again, it points to PH needing to train/produce more PhDs


Fourth...Produce only what we need...correct! Yet as I stated above, we are not producing enough teachers/professionals who have graduate degrees. So let's use our best institutions such as the UP System, AdMU, DLSU and uST (to a lesser extent) to produce more PhDs...first to populate our universities with well trained professors with PhDs, then strengthen our various industries/corporations/businesses to encourage them to engage in R&Ds...this is the only way to develop highly-skilled jobs that would solve underemployment....


As far as vocational training is concerned, you are again correct...we equally need them, we cannot ignore them, and the government is NOT ignoring them...that is why PH has two-pronged approach, one under CHED and the other under TESDA....the key word is EQUALLY...we need to approach it in a balanced and more holistic way

Tumpak! Dito kasi pumasa lang sa board okay na. Nag top 10 lang sa board, pwede na maging professor sa ilang schools kahit walang graduate degrees. That's what I heard, not sure about this. But you know the culture, passing the board is the ultimate goal of Filipinos.

Hindi rin required sa ilang universities dito na ma publish sa respected scientific journals para mabigyan ng doctoral degree. Unlike sa US, very strict sila dito.

[rider2]

Originally Posted by Greypilgrim

I edited my post pala.

Actually may mga linkages naman tayo sa mga universities abroad. And I believe the curriculum in UP is very competitive though it doesn't reflect in university rankings published by first world institutions because of some of their metrics. One is the number of international students and professors. UP give priority to Filipino students and they don't advertise to attract international students. Our constitution also does not allow foreigners to have permanent posts as professors in local universities. The number of high impact researches in UP is still below international standards but there's a lot of improvement in recent years. Mahirap lang talaga kalabananin yung mga bansang may budget para sa mga to.

Sa ngayon eto yung meron tayo.

The National Science Consortium

The National Science Consortium was organized in 2009 by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in line with its Accelerated Science and Technology Human Resource Development Program (ASTHRDP). Its aim is to enhance the capability of the Philippine higher education system to produce technically competent PhD and MS graduates by providing ample graduate scholarships to promising Filipino scientists and researchers, and by promoting resource sharing and information exchange through collaborative academic and research activities among Philippine universities with established PhD programs in the basic and applied sciences and mathematics, including forestry and agriculture, animal science, fisheries and public health. The current school year, SY 2010 — 2011, is the first year of implementation of the Consortium.

The Consortium was initiated during the term of Secretary Estrella Alabastro and implemented today with the full support of current DOST Secretary Mario Montejo. It presently consists of 10 colleges and schools from seven Philippine universities, namely University of the Philippines, Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University, University of Santo Tomas, Central Luzon State University, Visayas State University and Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology. The Science Education Institute (SEI) of the DOST found that only seven universities in the country have established PhD degree programs in the basic and applied sciences and mathematics. The four Consortium colleges from UP are based in UP Diliman, UP Los Baños, UP Manila and UP Visayas.

Available CHED records reveal that in 2009, the Philippine higher education system was made up of 1,758 universities and colleges, of which more than 88 percent were privately owned. Thirty-nine percent (1.081 million) of all undergraduates were enrolled in 190 state and local government-supported universities and colleges during SY 2009-2010. In SY 2004-2005, less than 10 percent of faculty members had PhD degrees implying that only a few institutions of higher learning are capable of offering viable (advanced) graduate programs particularly in the natural sciences, mathematics and engineering.

The Consortium is managed by the Steering Council that is composed of the deans of the 10 member colleges together with the DOST-SEI executive director. The Council serves as a policy-making body that also closely monitors and evaluates the performance of the Consortium program. In October 2010, a total of 764 full-time PhD faculty members worked for the Consortium with the UPLB Graduate School and the UP Diliman College of Science employing the largest numbers at 244 and 147, respectively.

Before the Consortium was organized, the chosen colleges produced an average total of 74.7 PhD and 247.4 MS graduates per school year with UPLB Graduate School and the UP Diliman College of Science producing 97 and 48 MS graduates, respectively. The formation of the Consortium is expected to increase collective production to around 250 PhD and 350 MS graduates per year by creating an enabling environment wherein a PhD faculty member is able to graduate successfully one PhD and one MS student every three and two years, respectively.

The Consortium is the third advanced manpower development program formed by the DOST in partnership with selected Philippine universities in the last thirty years. In the mid-1980s, the UP-Ateneo-De La Salle PhD Consortium was organized for the breeder sciences, followed by the World Bank-funded Engineering and Science Education Program (ESEP) in the 1990s that included the acquisition of research equipment and facilities. Both programs produced a number of PhD graduates who are now holding key academic, research and administrative positions in local universities and research centers.

The National Science Consortium is established to address the persistent lack of Filipino scientists and researchers who would enable our country to compete economically with its neighbors and generate prosperity for its rapidly increasing population. According to the UNESCO Science Report 2010, the researcher population density of the Philippines (with one per 12,345 population in 2009) is incontestably lower than those of Singapore (one per 164), Thailand (one per 3,215), Indonesia (one per 6,172) and Vietnam (one per 8,695).

The demographics of the PhD faculty members who are presently serving in the Consortium are also a cause of great concern. More than 55 percent of them are 51 years old and above, which means that our current and already limited national capability to train the next generation of scientists and researchers will be critically diminished toward the end of 2025 if our scientific enterprise system is unable to replace those who are retiring from service. In the UPLB Graduate School, almost 69 percent of PhD faculty members are at least 51 years of age. The demographics in other Consortium schools do not also fare any much better. The desirable age distribution is one in which there are more young assistant professors than associate professors who would also outnumber the senior full professors. A graduate student needs to earn his or her PhD degree before the age of 30 to have a better chance of contributing something significantly new to the body of scientific knowledge during his productive professional life.

The Consortium awarded a total of new 69 PhD and 322 MS scholarships in SY 2010-2011. This is in addition to the 212 PhD and 868 MS scholarships that were already allocated under ASTHRDP in the previous years before the Consortium was put into place. The more difficult challenge is to graduate these scholars in due time.

Human capital is the equivalent economic value that is placed on the skills and know-how of the available labor force. Together with stable rule of law, human capital plays a vital role in achieving national prosperity especially in a knowledge-based global economy. Despite the fact that it has no natural resources, Singapore became the richest country in the ASEAN due to its highly successful ability to generate and utilize intangible human capital.



http://www.philstar.com/science-and-...nce-consortium

The paragraph in bold give emphasis to our need to produce more Phds now because of our aging pool of advanced degree holders. Our hopes of developing an advanced economy in 30 years is in jeopardy if this can't be corrected.

Sa batch ko may mga nakapagtapos na rin ng PhD from universities in Europe and the US. Mga nasa 29-30 years old pa lang. Mostly sila yung mga halimaw sa batch namin, Magna at Summa cum laudes. Mga valedictorian at honors din from Pisay.Yung Summa cum laude namin sa Physics eh bumalik na ata sa UP from New York.

There is hope.

Thank you for this post...I'm glad to know that they are already addressing these concerns...what I think is needed is better implementation...as we know UPD is still predominantly an undergraduate institution, I would like to see its graduate students increased even more...we need to take advantage of the so many PhDs in the UP system and other state universities (i.e., MSU, CLSU, PUP, PNU, etc.), including some progressive private institutions (AdMU, DLSU) before they retire..we need to train as many PhDs as possible to reach critical mass, so they say.

As far as scholars going abroad to earn PhDs, this used to be the case way back during Marcos time, as my father was one of them. He earned his PhD in Genetics and taught for 20 years in PH before we moved here in Canada.

Indeed, there is hope.

[Greypilgrim]

The one I posted is also called the Engineering Research and Development for Technology (ERDT) Consortium. The goal is to produce human resource trained to innovate in order to jumpstart high value activities that will propel economic growth.

There are lots of PhD students who are taking advantage of the ERDT scholarships. To know more about this, you can visit http://www.science-scholarships.ph/erdt.php.

Most of UPD's competitive graduate programs are concentrated in the College of Science especially the National Institute of Physics and the Marine Science Institute. Outside CS, there is the School of Economics. That was during my time. I'm sure other departments have stepped up like the College of Engineering.

This is from NIP report from 2006-2007. I don't have the latest. I'm sure there have been improvements since.

The number of graduate students has increased considerably over the past years. This was due a)
the increased graduation rates of our undergraduate program and b) the NIP MS program becoming
attractive to students who got their BS Physics or related fields at other institutions. However, the number
of MS graduates over the past years has been hovering only at 11 /year. The NIP will institute measures
to increase the number of MS graduates since this will also mean a bigger pool of students for the Ph.D
program. Among these measures are a) the institution of bridge programs for graduate students whose
undergraduate preparation are not at par to NIP’s BS programs and b) close coordination with funding
agencies such as DOST/PCASTRD and DOST SEI to support the scholarships of students in the bridge
program . Proposals are also being prepared to increase the graduation rate in our Ph.D program. This
year we had a large pool of MS graduates who opted not to pursue our Ph.D program. Among the
measures that will be pursued include a) finding means to reduce the teaching load of our instructors so
that they are able to perform well also in their graduate studies and b) seeking for more scholarships from
CHED and other government Institutions to allow the students to do their doctoral studies on a full time
basis.
With the coming completion of the NIP building, issues of space for research laboratories will
no longer be a limiting problem for NIP. We will now focus our attention to our faculty profile. We will
try to increase the number of Ph.D faculty members working in subfields which we are weak while at the
same time support and maintain the areas where we have considerable strength. As we now increase in
numbers we will move towards having research profesors items and postdoctoral positions at NIP

Arnel Salvador, Ph.D
Director
National Institute of Physics.

I'll try to upload the pdf file somewhere and share it here.

[Greypilgrim]

The National Science Complex: Its vital role in Philippine higher education and scientific R&D

by Caesar Saloma, PhD

The National Science Complex (NSC) is being completed to provide a nurturing and enabling environment to Filipino scientists, researchers, and students in the basic and applied sciences and mathematics. Its successful operation is also foreseen to bridge the gap between risky but potentially rewarding scientific research and development programs that are being pursued in Philippine universities and the need of the private sector and other government agencies for faster returns to their precious investments.

The College of Science (CS), UP Diliman manages the 21.9-hectare NSC for the University of the Philippines. The NSC was established by virtue of Executive Order 583 that was issued by then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Dec. 8, 2006. The Philippine government allocated a total of P1.7 billion to complete the infrastructure requirements of the NSC and to acquire precision equipment for scientific R&D. The funds were part of the UP budgets for 2006 (P500 million), 2008 (P500 million) and 2009 (P700 million). The singular efforts of Congressman Luis Villafuerte were crucial in the establishment of the NSC.

New buildings are being constructed for the National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (NIMBB), National Institute of Physics (NIP), Institute of Biology (IB), Institute of Chemistry (IC), Institute of Environmental Science and Meteorology (IESM), Institute of Mathematics (I-Math) and the CS Administration Office, while existing buildings for the Marine Science Institute (MSI), Natural Sciences Research Institute (NSRI), National Institute of Geological Sciences (NIGS) and CS Library are being refurbished and upgraded. Construction of the new NSC road network started in March 2008 and completion of all major new buildings is expected by the first quarter of 2012.

The CS was first created as an autonomous college of UP Diliman on Oct. 6, 1983 during the term of then UP president Edgardo Angara. Its mission is to generate new scientific knowledge that allows us to understand more accurately the inner workings of the natural world and to train the next generation of scientists and researchers of the country.

Today, CS employs a total of 149 Ph.D. faculty members and four university researchers with Ph.D. degrees. They are serving the academic needs of 170 Ph.D., 588 M.S. and 1550 B.S. students. When it started in 1983, CS employed less than 40 regular Ph.D. faculty members. Between June 1983 and April 2010, it produced a total of 337 Ph.D., 1,233 M.S. and 6,165 B.S. graduates. Its Ph.D. graduates, in particular, are now holding key academic, research, and managerial positions in leading Philippine universities, government agencies and the private sector.

The NSC is expected to attract scientists and researchers from different disciplines and allow them to work within close proximity of each other, thereby promoting interdisciplinary research collaboration. The complex challenges confronting our country today are multidimensional in nature and they require inclusive interdisciplinary solutions that are best found through scientific thinking as well as fruitful collaboration and constructive engagement among and between scientists, researchers, scholars, humanists, and artists.

According to UNESCO Science Report 2010, the Philippines (with one researcher per 12,345 population in 2009) has a researcher population density that is lower than Singapore (one per 164), Thailand (one per 3,215), Indonesia (one per 6,172) and Vietnam (one per 8695). We hope to overcome our relative disadvantage by concentrating many of our available researchers within the NSC to reach a local critical density that favors greater research productivity.

CS scientists and researchers are currently investigating a wide range of research topics in the basic and applied sciences and mathematics. NIP physicists are developing new nanometer-size photonic devices, novel measurement techniques as well as new theories and methodologies that would elucidate the physical world of extreme scales and complexity. NIGS researchers are in different parts of the country studying the material composition and structural dynamics of our archipelagic geology, while MSI scientists are investigating the behavior of marine ecosystems as well as the biomedical properties of marine organisms to generate new knowledge that is invaluable in our efforts to incorporate sustainability into our national economic development programs.

Scientists from the IB and IESM are investigating the possible impacts of key direct (e.g. climate change) and indirect (e.g. human population growth) drivers of ecological change on terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity and ecosystem services. IC and NSRI researchers are analyzing the properties of locally found natural products for their potential medicinal value, while their NIMBB colleagues are studying algae as a possible fuel source, analyzing fluorescent proteins and gene sequences of bacterial pathogens, or characterizing the molecular composition of abaca. At the same time, I-Math researchers are exploring different ways of improving the language of science or looking for new applications of mathematics in finance, actuarial science, and information science.

The NSC is the first of its kind in the country and the ability of our government to operate it successfully is a credible gauge not only of the seriousness of its commitment to promote science and technology but also of its present technical readiness and managerial expertise to embark on high-impact, long-term scientific endeavors of national importance.

http://www.philstar.com/science-and-...gher-education

[rider2]

Originally Posted by Greypilgrim

The one I posted is also called the Engineering Research and Development for Technology (ERDT) Consortium. The goal is to produce human resource trained to innovate in order to jumpstart high value activities that will propel economic growth.

There are lots of PhD students who are taking advantage of the ERDT scholarships. To know more about this, you can visit http://www.science-scholarships.ph/erdt.php.

Most of UPD's competitive graduate programs are concentrated in the College of Science especially the National Institute of Physics and the Marine Science Institute. Outside CS, there is the School of Economics. That was during my time. I'm sure other departments have stepped up like the College of Engineering.

This is from NIP report from 2006-2007. I don't have the latest. I'm sure there have been improvements since.

The number of graduate students has increased considerably over the past years. This was due a)
the increased graduation rates of our undergraduate program and b) the NIP MS program becoming
attractive to students who got their BS Physics or related fields at other institutions. However, the number
of MS graduates over the past years has been hovering only at 11 /year. The NIP will institute measures
to increase the number of MS graduates since this will also mean a bigger pool of students for the Ph.D
program. Among these measures are a) the institution of bridge programs for graduate students whose
undergraduate preparation are not at par to NIP’s BS programs and b) close coordination with funding
agencies such as DOST/PCASTRD and DOST SEI to support the scholarships of students in the bridge
program . Proposals are also being prepared to increase the graduation rate in our Ph.D program. This
year we had a large pool of MS graduates who opted not to pursue our Ph.D program. Among the
measures that will be pursued include a) finding means to reduce the teaching load of our instructors so
that they are able to perform well also in their graduate studies and b) seeking for more scholarships from
CHED and other government Institutions to allow the students to do their doctoral studies on a full time
basis.
With the coming completion of the NIP building, issues of space for research laboratories will
no longer be a limiting problem for NIP. We will now focus our attention to our faculty profile. We will
try to increase the number of Ph.D faculty members working in subfields which we are weak while at the
same time support and maintain the areas where we have considerable strength. As we now increase in
numbers we will move towards having research profesors items and postdoctoral positions at NIP

Arnel Salvador, Ph.D
Director
National Institute of Physics.

I'll try to upload the pdf file somewhere and share it here.

I think the NIP is doing very well...and with all the building/research lab constructions going on in all areas of science/engineering in the UPD campus, not to mention the mabny international research programs/institutions affiliated with UPLB (i.e., IRRI) and UPV (i.e., fisheries), we'll see great improvements in the graduate programs at UP system, and hopefully will be instrumental in developing the graduate programs of other universities, as well.

I hope that with these new facilities at UPD going on stream, we'll also see hirings of more PhDs to build more capacity for training more PhDs. I know this needs more money, and if the government is really serious about improving the present situation and have us catch up to the rest of the world, then it will provide the needed funds. What could be done also to accelerate the pace is to offer more scholarships toward a straight PhD program in all areas. This will lessen the chances of MS graduates not continuing on.

[Nabartek]

Yknow, given our demographics, I think we won't ran out of manual laborers even if a lot would pursue BS or BA(AB).

What we need to do it change the mindset and hiring practices... (of course level up the standards of education)

Say for example, why not hire working students in manual field WHILE studying for college? Very common in the US and Canada. In the Philippines, palamunin pa rin kasi ng magulang kahit pag graduate.

I also think that other than scholarships, the government should also have some sort of "financial aid" or grants. Sa scholarships kasi, ang alam ko masyadong mataas ang standard..I think B+ ang kelangan para mamaintain ang scholarship. Financial aid, would be at least a passing C.

Meron din yung mentality na kung ano ang uso, dun lahat nageenroll! We also need professionals in the arts department to prop up the entertainment industry. Ito ang kelangan nating idevelop. There are so many talented Filipinos but we suck at technical skills. Korea, yknow, IMO, aren't "too creative" and "talented" (at least their mainstream -- ang dami bilang off pitch singers at sintunado, mas gusto mo pa pakinggan yung nagkakaraoke sa Pilipinas ) but they are good in technicalities. Ang ganda ng visuals nila. More people means more competition, more fresh ideas... The government should be offering scholarships and financial aid for majors that are needed but not popular.

[Nabartek]

Originally Posted by Greypilgrim

I edited my post pala.

Actually may mga linkages naman tayo sa mga universities abroad. And I believe the curriculum in UP is very competitive though it doesn't reflect in university rankings published by first world institutions because of some of their metrics. One is the number of international students and professors. UP give priority to Filipino students and they don't advertise to attract international students. Our constitution also does not allow foreigners to have permanent posts as professors in local universities. The number of high impact researches in UP is still below international standards but there's a lot of improvement in recent years. Mahirap lang talaga kalabananin yung mga bansang may budget para sa mga to.

I hope they can amend that part restricting foreign professors. If they do, we will have a vibrant expat community as well as our students will be more exposed to other cultures not through stereotypes but through relating to other people.

But of course, our institutions should evaluate his/her credentials more than his/her skin color.

[rider2]

Originally Posted by Nabartek

I hope they can amend that part restricting foreign professors. If they do, we will have a vibrant expat community as well as our students will be more exposed to other cultures not through stereotypes but through relating to other people.

But of course, our institutions should evaluate his/her credentials more than his/her skin color.

Best professors will always be attracted to the best universities...and PH universities will not attract the best...what could be the better option is to have visiting/exchange professorship agreements with the best universities in the world

[rider2]

Originally Posted by Greypilgrim

The National Science Complex: Its vital role in Philippine higher education and scientific R&D

by Caesar Saloma, PhD

Today, CS employs a total of 149 Ph.D. faculty members and four university researchers with Ph.D. degrees. They are serving the academic needs of 170 Ph.D., 588 M.S. and 1550 B.S. students. When it started in 1983, CS employed less than 40 regular Ph.D. faculty members. Between June 1983 and April 2010, it produced a total of 337 Ph.D., 1,233 M.S. and 6,165 B.S. graduates. Its Ph.D. graduates, in particular, are now holding key academic, research, and managerial positions in leading Philippine universities, government agencies and the private sector.

The NSC is expected to attract scientists and researchers from different disciplines and allow them to work within close proximity of each other, thereby promoting interdisciplinary research collaboration. The complex challenges confronting our country today are multidimensional in nature and they require inclusive interdisciplinary solutions that are best found through scientific thinking as well as fruitful collaboration and constructive engagement among and between scientists, researchers, scholars, humanists, and artists.

http://www.philstar.com/science-and-...gher-education

This is awesome. Gloria is indeed an academician. We have a lot to thank her for, the NSC being one of them. I'm just glad that PNoy is continuing to support the program. Soon, we'll see the graduate student population increased to more than 50% of the total CS enrollment. To me, this is an ideal scenario. I just hope that the same situaiton is happening in all of the university's units/departments/colleges.

I'm also glad to know that interdisciplinarity is being promoted.

[calaguyo]

Originally Posted by rider2

Let me address some of the arguments highlighted above.


First...We have oversupply of professionals? What kind, and at what level? Most of them don't have graduate degrees...their level of expetise preclude them from doing serious research, and may not be effective when employed as instructors/professors in our universities.

At this generation, we are producing more Engineers, Nurses and IT professionals but end up working as a call center agents. Whereas, if these incompetent graduates took up vocational courses, they could have not spend too much. Imagine the difference of cost when you take-up 5 year degree course compare to 2-year diploma course, eh sa call center naman din pala ang bagsak. Pero sabi ko nga, provided TESDA (sorry not CHED) is strengthening the vocational and technology courses and government is providing these vocational diploma graduates job security. Results, mababawasan ang under-employment at malaking burden sa milyon-milyong pamilya na gumagastos ng libo-libo para sa tuition fee. Parang RH Bill lang yan eh, gusto natin mabawasan ang burden ng malaking population na umuubos sa sa napaka limited resources natin na hindi naman nadadagdagan kasi maliit ang investment flow sa atin.

Second...one of the major reasons why we have underemplyment is that we don't generate enough highly-skilled jobs for them...and just how can we generate these jobs? We need to develop our R&D industry from within PH. Technology transfer has very limited advantage in this very competitive world. Developing from within PH requires the kind of manpower that we currently don't have...they are those with graduate degrees (see Greypilgrim's posts).

That's why we need to generate job first. Let's allow foreign investors who have the technology to invest in this country with full control of their ownership. We're too idealistic that if we produce more PHD's, more jobs will be generated. Do you know how much our country is spending in R&D every year? $30M only. I am working in an R&D department in one of the companies here in Singapore and the project I am handling right is now already close to $25M.

R&D Expeditures per country:
US is spending $405B
China - $251B
Japan - $144B
Germany - $70B
....
...
..
..
.
Philippines - $0.29B (0.09% of GDP)

Now tell me, what kind of R&D projects our government will conduct with that very small budget?

That's why we need more investors to increase our GDP and eventually put up a decent budget for R&D. For now, investors doesn't need our PHD's, what they need is our competitive millions of workforce.

Third...we have more than 2000 institutions of higher learning, many of which are diploma mills...why do you think is that? because we just don't have enough teachers with graduate degrees who can provide quality education in these institutions...again, it points to PH needing to train/produce more PhDs.

I agree. But it will be better to cut down these HEI's into half. Retain only the performing schools with better faculty profile, better facilities, better PRC performance. The other half can be converted into vocational institutions to be regulated by TESDA.

Fourth...Produce only what we need...correct! Yet as I stated above, we are not producing enough teachers/professionals who have graduate degrees. So let's use our best institutions such as the UP System, AdMU, DLSU and uST (to a lesser extent) to produce more PhDs...first to populate our universities with well trained professors with PhDs, then strengthen our various industries/corporations/businesses to encourage them to engage in R&Ds...this is the only way to develop highly-skilled jobs that would solve underemployment....

I don't see the problem here. That is good perspective. But then again, until the government cannot come up with decent budget for R&D expenditure, I do not think we can pull off a better R&D projects. We need to increase our revenue first and that is by opening our economy to the world's best investors. Let's slowly adapt to their technology until we can do it our own. Cost effective right?

As far as vocational training is concerned, you are again correct...we equally need them, we cannot ignore them, and the government is NOT ignoring them...that is why PH has two-pronged approach, one under CHED and the other under TESDA....the key word is EQUALLY...we need to approach it in a balanced and more holistic way

Again I do not oppose a well concentrated PHD holders in this country. To sum up my concerns:

1. Save the education cost - there will be many jobs in the future that doesn't require university degree like call center agents, technicians, operators, clerk, drafting, basic programming etc... In Singapore and Australia, there are only few degree holders because their universities are highly regulated and they do not have this mindset of "we need to have degree inorder to get a decent job". If we cut down the HEI's to only 1000, hindi tayo kukulangin ng mga competitive professors.

2. Diploma Mills schools are waste of money- they are after your money. Look at AMA, STI and other schools. I pity those parents who send their kids to study in these institutions. Our job market is very competitive and there is no way can compete with those graduates from well performing institutions.

3. It is not yet our time to focus more on R&D with the level of economy we have. Lets strengthen our GDP first and our millions of workforce are or commodities and not our PHD's. Once we reach the "developed status", ayan i-encourage natin lahat maging PHD's kasi kelangan na.

Side note, since our BPO industry has long been developed, this is about time for this industry to focus more on R&D.

[rider2]

Originally Posted by Parchie

South Korea is spending 4.2% of its GDP and is the number one when it comes to scientific literacy.

Japan, who is rated number 2 also spent 3.6% of its GDP.

The Philippines spends 3.2% of its GDP but is nowhere to be seen in that rankings!

If we give 6% of GDP, is that a sure fire solution that will bring us above that of the South Korean level? Bluntly, are we going to improve our education in the country?

I think it's in the government's agenda...the very reason why we now have a separate department for that...

The Science complex being built at UPD is a great start...we are now producing more and more PhDs in all science areas

We cannot hope to improve the overall scientific literacy of the Filipinos if we don't have PhDs teaching our students in our universities...most professors/instructors in most PH universities don't have graduate degrees

Japan and Korea were able to create miracles in their respective economies because of they were able to train a great many PhDs to fuel their R&Ds, and hence produce and export the high value products that are now dominating the international market.

If PH had to grow like these two economic powers, then it must somehow adopt these policies and apply them to our unique local situations