By Vianca Gamboa
Most of us had a fascination with books and art materials growing up, many thanks to National Book Store, which helped create a reading culture for Filipinos.
(NOEL PABALETE/ MANILA BULLETIN)
In 2017, National Book Store decided to up the ante and build NBS College. This does not divert much from the company’s 75-year tradition of supporting education in the Philippines, as well as building the NBS Foundation.
It also stems from the vision of its founder Soccoro Ramos or Nanay Coring, to build a school, together with her nephew, NBS president Andrew Ramos. Drawing from the struggles of her early life, Nanay Coring was very much “eager to learn” but never set foot in college.
For NBS College’s VP for administration, June Sebastian, the greatest accomplishment so far was being able to bring their visions to life.
Among the core values of the school are nurturance, benevolence, and service, highlighting the company’s goal to continue Nanay Coring’s legacy and produce “great leaders and professionals who shall endeavor to uplift the image of the Philippines.”
Program Offerings
The college only offers a few courses such as Accountancy, Accounting Information System, Entrepreneurship, Computer Science, Tourism Management, and Library Information Science. Accountancy and Entrepreneurship, however, are its most in-demand courses because they are completely anchored on National Book Store’s integral mission—to develop a generation of Nanay Coring-minded citizens who look at business as something that not just grows, but serves.
NBS College also believes in an application-based method of teaching. “First year students should already be able to apply what they learn and not just rely on theories. Entrepreneurship students are already given their own stall at the mall where they will be able to come up with other products and then try to sell them at the early stages so that by the time they graduate, they’re already used to honing their skills as entrepreneur,” said Sebastian.
For a start-up school, NBS College has been trying hard to be a bridge for the less fortunate youth with a great desire to finish college. On offer are scholarships to students with outstanding general average. Students who garner a GPA of at least 3.85 get full scholarship on tuition and other fees worth around P8,000 per semester, as well as two sets of school uniform, one P.E. shirt, and a P2,000 book allowance. Students who have a GPA of 3.5 to 3.84 receive a 100 percent off on tuition fee while those who have an average of 3.0 receive
50 percent off on tuition. Scholar recipients, depending on their significant recognition, also get 50 percent off, like brand ambassadors, NBS employees and dependents, talent-based scholars, and needs-based scholars.
The college is very keen about their plans, and Sebastian, with absolute conviction, hinted that NBS College has been very transparent about its plans to expand into a university. “We just finished our strategic planning and we are studying different
programs that we may want to offer in the future. At this point, what we want is to strengthen our current course offerings.”
NBS College is a game-changer in the field of education on account of its innovative and dynamic approach to learning. The programs put into account how this generation is facing all things new in a world so rapidly changing. “You have to be able to offer everything to the students so they are reality-ready, they are job-ready, and that they’re honing their skills well,” assured Sebastian. That’s why NBS strives to be an academic community making a positive difference, from students to the world.
NBS College is on the third and fourth floor of the National Book Store Building at the corner of Quezon Avenue and Scout Borromeo in Quezon City.