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Wednesday, October 25, 2017
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TERTIARY education is important in today’s highly competitive and technology-based world. So here’s one good news to state universities and colleges: they will have an across-the-board increase in capital outlay (P10 million each) in the proposed 2018 P3.7-trillion national budget. The increase is in support to the implementation of free tuition, according to Sen. Sonny Angara, vice chairman of the Senate finance committee.
Yes, we must provide public higher education institutions (HEIs) with adequate funds. We need to promote a culture of innovation to encourage creative thinking and knowledge creation and dissemination towards expanding and maintaining economic competitiveness. But to create an innovation ecosystem, we need to invest in higher education.
The Philippines used to have the enviable status of being the second most progressive nation in Asia during the 1950s and early 1960s. It was a model of development, second only to Japan, and was envied as an industrial powerhouse. It served as a manufacturing hub for many products – from consumer goods to medical products; cement, textile and fertilizers, automobiles, televisions, and home appliances, as well as steel for shipbuilding. Today, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation classifies the Philippines as an “innovation follower”, which means it does not contribute significantly to the global innovation system. It also means we under-invest in scientific research, and are not willing to embrace needed reforms that could bolster our innovation potential.
There is a need to invest in higher education to create an innovation ecosystem. Our state schools need significant support, especially from the government, in conducting researches and projects that can keep pace with the best in the world. We must not hesitate to invest in institutions that can lead in research and development.
We must encourage enrolment in Science, Technology, Education, Agri-fisheries and Mathematics programs by supporting scholarships to students enrolled in priority courses in all state HEIs. All progressive nations have made science and technology the centerpiece of their development policy. We should do the same.
Giving the necessary financial support to public HEIs will help produce a workforce that will support our industries and companies which, in turn, propel the country to inclusive growth and global competitiveness.
Investing in education is investing in the future of our nation.
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