Press Release
October 22, 2009

UP STANDARDS, BRING RP TO WORLD LIST OF SCHOOLS--ANGARA

After the release of the World's Top 200 Universities list by the Times Higher Education (THE) for 2009, Sen. Edgardo Angara urged academics, professionals and students to continue improving performance in school and at work. This he noted in reference to the absence of any Philippine university in the list.

"It is but ironic that while we have one of the biggest, best-skilled pools of professionals in the global workforce, our education system is not recognized to be at par with other universities in the world," lamented Angara, former President of the University of the Philippines. The UP System consistently tops national rankings and ratings in education standards.

Out of the 200 school in the list, over a fourth are in the US. There are 29 from the UK, 10 from Germany, 9 from Australia, 11 from Canada, 11 from Japan and five from Sweden. Some geographically-small countries also yield an impressive record this year: the Netherlands with 11 universities, Belgium with 5 and Switzerland with 7 in the list.

The THE is a London-based magazine reporting on issues related to higher education. It ranks universities according to ratings on peer review, employer review, staff-student score, staff citations rate, international staff and international students rates.

THE's list analyzes the institutions' abilities to attract international staff and students; and considers informed opinions of academics and major graduate recruiters who have unique insights on the institutions' strengths. The list uses qualitative data derived from surveys alongside quantitative data on topics such as staff and student numbers and scholarly citations.

For a university to be considered, it must have work in at least two of the major academic fields: natural sciences (biomedicine, engineering and information technology), social sciences, and the arts and humanities. The rankings do not include specialist institutions, mainly medical colleges and business schools, however.

In Asia, China has six universities in the list, Hong Kong has five, South Korea has four, Singapore and India have two each; Malaysia, Thailand and Taiwan with one university each that made it to the list. The Philippines, unfortunately, did not have any.

"This alludes to the fact that the country still lacks capacities and facilities in research and development and higher learning; especially in view of the [low] number of Filipino scholars abroad returning to the country and international students enrolled in our schools," noted Angara. He has been urging the DepEd, CHED and the DOST to augment efforts in initiating and maintaining scholarship exchange ties with Asian giants like Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, and Hong Kong.

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