President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. set as one of his administration’s priorities the “upskilling and reskilling” of teachers. In his State of the Nation address last year, he mentioned the need to “improve our teachers’ credentials.”
This mandate has been operationalized by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED). “Outside the regular degree programs, we must continue to upskill and reskill our faculty. Aside from their graduate degrees, they need to understand technology. That will be the major emphasis of CHED this year,” said CHED Chair J. Prospero de Vera.
“We will increase the level of scholarships because the budget for scholarship programs was doubled upon the instructions of the President,” De Vera said.
A presidential directive raised the budget for scholarship for graduate studies and continuing professional development from P500 million to P1.1B in 2025.
Benchmarking with the best
De Vera mentions three important things “that must be benchmarked with what universities all over the world are doing – faculty, facilities and curriculum.”
Via CHED, the Marcos Jr. administration has been keen on enhancing and increasing the capacity of faculty members to do research and extension projects.
De Vera said. “We have more than 1,000 faculty members of universities doing their masters and PhDs. This past year, more than 500 faculty members finished their master’s degrees.” This research program is based on CHED Memorandum Order No. 52 s. 2016, or the Pathways to Equity, Relevance and Advancement in Research, Innovation, and Extension in Higher Education. Research has received an additional grant of P10 million, while extension projects got a grant of P2 million.
CHED has also clustered the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into six platforms. Priority will be given to proposals on Food Production and Security; Environment, Disaster Risk Reduction, Climate Change and Energy, Terrestrial and Marine Resources; Economy, Biodiversity and Conservation; Smart Analytics and Engineering Innovations; Health Systems; Education in Science, Technology, Engineering, Agriculture and Mathematics (STEAM).
Apart from the grants-in-aid program, CHED also has “high-end” research being done by faculty members under the PCARi/LAKAs program. Upgrading of laboratories is being done under the Institutional and Innovation Grants (IDIG).
The CHED chair said that we need to ensure that we deliver quality free education.
From just 52 public and private universities that are ranked internationally, we now have 87. CHED targets 110 Philippine universities by this year. These are universities that can compete globally because they “benchmark their practices with the best universities in the world, and subject themselves to world standards of education through internationalization.”
Through the CHED – Higher Education Upskilling and Study for Advancement of Staff and Faculty (HUSAY) Program, 439 faculty also took quality short courses from leading universities in the Philippines and abroad.
The HUSAY Program was launched in September 2023. It complements CHED’s Scholarships for Instructors and Staff Knowledge Advancement Program (SIKAP), which provides a scholarship to complete a postgraduate degree. The Commission will open new scholarship slots for both SIKAP and HUSAY this year.
Continuing Development Programs for teachers
Late last year, the CHED also simultaneously implemented four continuing professional development programs.
“We sent 40 faculty members of our agriculture schools who have expertise in dairy and livestock to the University of Massey in New Zealand to learn better livestock and dairy practices,” he said. New Zealand is the top country for dairy production.
“One of the highlights of the program was the exposure to cutting-edge technologies, the integration of robotics being used in New Zealand’s dairy sector,” said Dr. Sean Vidad of Mariano Marcos State University. He took the Advanced Short Course on Sustainable Dairy Production System.
Vidad added, “The real-time examples from local farms demonstrated how innovation can improve productivity while maintaining sustainability—a critical consideration in modern agriculture… I look forward to implementing the knowledge and practices gained at Massey University and sharing the insights with my students, farmers, colleagues, and peers.”
Ms. Ivy Kristel Quino of Xavier University, who also took the same course, said, “The knowledge and skills gained from this experience will serve as a foundation for developing the dairy curriculum and enhancing my ability to share insights. Ultimately, this will contribute to the growth and progress of our dairy education and industry.”
De Vera also mentioned that last month, they sent 40 faculty scholars on a short course on tropical medicine to Kuala Lumpur, 40 faculty members on halal education to Indonesia, and 30 university sports directors to Langkawi.
Dr. Cerelyn Dacula of Far Eastern University’s Nicanor Reyes Medical Foundation took the short course on tropical medicine. She said: “As a researcher and a clinician, I must admit that in endemic and emerging fungal infections, surveillance… is often overlooked. There is scarcity of data related to these topics. The workshop provided insights into the rising threat of fungal infections.”
“One of the key takeaways was the need to recognize opportunistic fungal infections as a significant threat, especially for vulnerable populations,” said Dr. Lotis Balala of the Visayas State University. “This has reinforced my commitment to advocating for better awareness of fungal pathogens —from the walls and ceilings of our homes to the skin of our pets—and to pursuing research on hygiene practices to prevent infections and promote better health.”
“Being a scholar of the Tertiary Coaching Education and Development: A Ladderized Sports Skills and Training Program offered by the National University Sports Academy was a rewarding and transformative experience,” said Joebert L. Tarraya of Sorsogon State University.
“The hands-on sessions and expert guidance gave me a deeper understanding of the game, making it easier to connect with players and improve their performance. I feel more confident in my ability to motivate and lead players. I’m also excited to apply what I’ve learned.”
Distance learning gets a push
“We still have several new initiatives in 2025. One is to push for open distance learning. This is the system of education that uses technology and different approaches in delivering programs to the students, so they don’t have to physically travel,” he said.
De Vera added that more than 200 university presidents and academic leaders finished an online certificate program in the Wharton School of Management at the University of Pennsylvania. Among the subjects in their syllabus were artificial intelligence and educational leadership. They finished the program last year, and another batch will begin this year.
Another new policy in CHED is “microcredentials, where you get a certification for skills that you learn. It could then be converted into units and ladderized,” Dr. De Vera said.
“Those are some of the initiatives we’re doing based on the instructions of President Marcos Jr. The benefits of our continuous investment in education are seen as more Philippine universities and colleges are now internationally-ranked. We will continue this momentum. We have a lot lined up for this year., so expect more opportunities for 2025,” De Vera said.
Below are some solid data on what the CHED has done for continuous improvement and to make them part of the 21st century’s list of quality institutions.
