The Philippines and China will further boost their cooperation in Science, Technology, Agriculture, and Mathematics education; conduct training programs for professionals in various subject areas; promote student mobility, joint research, and language teaching and expand digital education in Philippine universities.
Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Chairman Popoy De Vera met with China’s Ministry of Education Minister Huai Jinpeng and other ASEAN leaders during the Opening Ceremony of the China-ASEAN Education Cooperation Week in Guiyang, China.
In a separate working meeting between De Vera and China’s Education Vice Minister Chen Jie, both sides discussed the needed steps to implement the 2019 education cooperation agreement between the Philippines and China.
The higher education chief was joined by Chongqing Consul General Flerida Ann Mayo, who has been part of the Philippine delegation’s dialogues with the education officials in China.
Mayo has been essential in ensuring that CHED implements the agreements signed in 2019.
The strategy on promoting China-Philippines educational cooperation is anchored in the Memorandum of Understanding on Higher Education Cooperation between the Ministry of Education of China and the Commission on Higher Education of the Philippines, which was signed in August 2019 to fast-track the bilateral cooperation in higher education.
“More and more Chinese students are coming to the Philippines. More and more Filipino students and graduate students want to study in China. And so our historical relations which predate the colonial period in the Philippines is really the guiding principle. In short, we started off as friends a long time ago even before the coming of the Spaniards in the Philippines and that relationship must continue and must be strengthened continuously,” De Vera stressed.
During the meeting, he thanked the government of China for facilitating the establishment of five Confucius institutes in the Philippines.
Three hundred Filipino students are currently under Chinese government scholarships in China.
“China will continue to give more support to the Philippine universities and schools at all levels.”
“China will continue to give more support to the Philippine universities and schools at all levels in accordance with your requirements and demands, especially the requirement to establish Confucius institute in the middle part of the Philippines and also in some other universities,” Chen Jie said.
“We will continue to support the direction of the Chinese language and teaching programs in Confucius institutes and all schools at all levels, continue to provide more scholarships for overseas Chinese Teachers and help train local teachers in the Philippines,” he added.
The second area of cooperation discussed is about training for technical and skilled talents which is necessary in both countries’ social and economic development.
“We need a lot of technical and skilled personnel for our social and economic development.”
“We need a lot of technical and skilled personnel for our social and economic development. So my suggestion is that we can combine training and teaching of these technical and skilled talents with our language teaching programs and with our vocational education cooperation programs,” Chen Jie proposed.
The two ministries also agreed on creating a Joint Working Group to review the registry of recognized universities in both countries and ensure quality assurance for Philippine universities that accept Chinese students.
The meeting between the two officials further expanded education linkages between the two countries.
“We have achieved much, but we can achieve more. By collaborating, sharing knowledge, and working together, we can build a future where the Belt and Road becomes a path to educational excellence and sustainable development,” De Vera said.
“We want China and Philippines partnership to be exemplary in the ASEAN Region, in pushing for quality digital education,” Chen Jie concluded.
