Kabataan Party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel (Rep. Manuel's office)

The recent dip suffered by Philippine universities in the Times Higher Education (THE) rankings should be taken as a sign by local officials to reassess current policies on education. 

Thus, said Kabataan Party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel as he emphasized the need for the state to take charge in developing the public higher education system primarily through sufficient budget allotments and better services and policies. 

Doing so would improve accessibility and quality of education at the tertiary level, the Makabayan solon said. 

In particular, Manuel called out Congress and national government officials to take a look at its current education policies. 

“Reflection ito na nahihirapan ang ating mga State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) na paunlarin pa ang kalidad ng edukasyon kung taon-taon ay kailangan manlimos ng SUCs para sa sapat na budget. Kaya kung gusto nating makahabol ang ating mga pamantasan sa rehiyon at sa mundo, dapat nariyan ang sapat na suporta ng estado,” Manuel, a summa cum laude graduate from the University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV), said. 

(This is a reflection of our State Universities and Colleges' difficulties in improving the quality of education if they have to beg annually for ample budget. So if we want our universities to catch up in the region and in the world, there should be enough support from the state.) 

This notwithstanding, Manuel noted that the international rankings shouldn't be made the sole yardstick for the quality of local education. He said such rankings should be viewed with "critical eye". 

The militant lawmaker underscored that the true yardstick of the quality of education in the Philippines are the students themselves. 

“Para makapaghabol ng ranking, todong ginigipit naman ang mga estudyante na magpataas ng performance sa pamamagitan ng iba-ibang patakaran kahit lumalabag na ito sa karapatan niya," he said. 

(To improve our ranking, we rely on our students who are burdened by various rules that sometimes trample on the rights.) 

"Ang kalidad ay mahahanap sa kalidad ng estudyante mismo at sa maunlad na kalagayan ng ating mga guro, at ‘di lang sa mga makadayuhang pamantayan,” Manuel said. 

(The quality can be found in the students themselves and in the prosperous state of teachers, and not only in these foreign-based standards.)

Manuel graduated in 2015 with a Bachelor of Science degree in applied mathematics.