Soft-launching the strategy at the ASEAN-UK Higher Education Week in Manila on November 3, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) chairperson Shirley Agrupis said the framework would create a “concrete roadmap to address the challenges in student and faculty mobility, as well as the strengthening of research collaboration”.
Modelled on a similar system in neighbouring Malaysia, the initiative aims to slash bureaucracy and make the arrival of international students and academics in the Philippines “effortless”, she said.
“We are driving international mobility and talent attraction, transforming the Philippines into a vibrant, welcoming destination for international students, academics, and global researchers,” said Agrupis.
We are driving international mobility and talent attraction, transforming the Philippines into a vibrant, welcoming destination for international students, academics, and global researchers
Shirley Agrupis, CHED
She pledged that the fast-track visa accreditation system would make the country “ready to welcome global talent with speed, with efficiency, and of course the Philippine warm hospitality”.
Kamal Mamat, head of the education, youth and sports division at the ASEAN secretariat, labelled the strategy as “a statement of intent”.
“This is a statement that the Philippines seeks to engage with the world through higher education in a way that is strategic, confident, and mutually beneficial,” he said. “When supported by a clear national strategy, these arrangements can widen access to international education while enabling students to remain connected to their communities and economies.”
While the Philippines has been eyeing a smoother system to form transnational education partnerships for several years, with legislation being drawn in 2019, it has taken several years to facilitate the law’s development. It has been working closely with the British Council – the host of the ASEAN-UK Higher Education Week – on the strategy, which focuses explicitly on the years 2027-2030.
The plan includes a quality framework ensuring the mutual recognition of qualifications between the Philippines, other ASEAN nations and the UK. A partnership has already been signed between University of the Philippines Los Baños and the University of Reading, while other UK universities are also looking into TNE partnerships with Filipino institutions.
CHED has been clear that the partnerships will not necessarily take the form of international branch campuses, which have been set up prolifically in other TNE hotspots such as India. Instead, Filipino institutions will be more likely to partner on initiatives such as dual degrees or research MoUs.
While UK-Filipino partnerships are already being drawn up, Agrupis told The PIE News that CHED would welcome TNE agreements with Japan, and the US, among other countries.
Agrupia pointed out that the plan would help build capacity in the Filipino higher education system. Already, she said, thousands of Filipino students go abroad to study each year. But she pointed out that the TNE strategy could instead encourage more international students onto Filipino shores.
“We cannot confine our students in our local teaching and learning ecosystem because the landscape of higher education changes so fast,” she said.
“These developments present an opportunity for the Philippines to strengthen its participation in international higher education, not only by expanding opportunities for Filipino learners, but also by attracting international students and building stronger academic and research partnerships.”
