Government to promote Philippines as a world-class tourist destination

MANILA — The Arroyo administration is strengthening the country’s collegiate education program to promote the Philippines not only as a world-class tourist destination but also as a topnotch center of higher education.

“We will use higher education as an entry point of tourism,” Commission on Higher Education (CHED) chair, Dr. Carlito Puno, said on “The Cabinet Speaks,” a weekly television program aired over NBN 4 and hosted by Press Undersecretary for Broadcast Martin Antonio Crisostomo.

By upgrading the standard of the college education, the government would be “shooting two birds with one stone,” Puno said. More foreign students would be attracted to study in the Philippines, which would also translate into more tourists coming to the country, he added.

He said one of the main reasons foreign students prefer to study in the Philippines is the affordability of education in the country. College education in the Philippines is far cheaper than that of China or Russia where most Korean university students used to study.

Another attraction of the Philippine education system is the Filipino’s fluency in the English language, not to mention the world-renowned Filipino hospitality, he said.

The CHED chief said he has directed state universities and colleges to increase their investments in improving their facilities such as dormitories as well as their curricula.

Only recently, the government signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with China’s Ministry of Education allowing Chinese students, who could not be accommodated in China’s universities, to study in the Philippines.

China’s state universities and colleges can absorb only 30 percent of the country’s high school graduates, and studying in private universities is quite expensive.

A student pays about $2,000 per semester in a Chinese private college or university compared to only $1,000 in the Philippines, Puno said.

He said Koreans top the list of foreign visitors in the country and this could be attributed to the influx of Korean students.

Puno also said that aside from the South Koreans, about 1,600 students from India are arriving in September or October to take up medical courses and aeronautics.

At present, there are some 100,000 Korean students enrolled in private and state-run colleges and universities in the Philippines, he said.

Puno also revealed that Korean universities have been offering post-graduate study scholarships to Filipino faculty members to further strengthen the cooperation between Korean and Filipino teachers and professors.

He expressed confidence that educational tourism is well on its way to contributing to the country’s coffers.