Marcos on low PH Times University ranking: More work needs to be done

President Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr. has called for a comprehensive strategy in the higher education sector as he lamented that no Philippine university had reached the Top 100 in the Times Higher Education's 2024 Asia University Rankings.

''As of December 2023, 81 Philippine Higher Educational Institutions have been included in various world university rankings—a significant increase from the 52 [HEIs] that were included in July 2023,'' Marcos said in his speech during the National Higher Education Day Summit.

''However, we must acknowledge that in the recent Times Higher Education’s 2024 Asia University Rankings, unfortunately, no Philippine university has reached Top 100, with the country’s top schools either dropping or maintaining their rankings,'' he added.

''This just goes to show that much work is still to be done. We must pursue a comprehensive and all-encompassing strategy that will turn this trend around,'' Marcos said.

Marcos emphasized that the greatest obligation to the youth was ''to mold them into critical thinkers, into problem solvers, into visionaries, wielding the skills that will allow them to succeed in the future.''

He said that in the absence of an educated workforce, ''any national economic blueprints will remain simply as that --- blueprints.''

''We will not have the means or the capacity or the labor force to be able to make those plans reality. Without skilled manpower who will run them, industries will grind to a halt, social services will cease to function,'' Marcos said.

To recall, Ateneo de Manila University remained the highest ranking Philippine university in the 2024 Times Higher Education (THE) Asia University Rankings.

According to the list, the Ateneo is in the 401–500 rank, followed by De La Salle University and the University of the Philippines in the 501–600 rank. Meanwhile, Mapua University and the University of Santo Tomas were both included in the 601+ rank.

The President then made a commitment that improving higher education and making it responsive to the present and future needs of society has been the front and center of his administration’s national development agenda.  

''The success of many of our plans for the country depends heavily on the availability of a strong, resilient, and skilled human resource to drive the nation forward,'' Marcos said.

The summit offers an opportunity for leaders of higher education institutions to strengthen existing partnerships and forge new ones as they collectively address the issues and concerns of the Philippine education system. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News