Foreign ownership of universities expected to expand PHL schools’ networks
By John Victor D. Ordoñez, Reporter
FOREIGN OWNERSHIP of higher education institutions could improve employment prospects for students, who would have access to the foreign investors’ job placement networks, according to testimony heard by a Senate committee on Tuesday.
At a hearing considering a resolution that would ease Constitutional restrictions on foreign investment, Gael McDonald, a senior consultant with Arizona State University and former president of RMIT University Vietnam, said more foreign universities will also expand Philippine universities’ partnership networks, resulting in the exchange of knowledge and research practices.
“When you establish a new university, you establish jobs, you attract students, you contribute to the local economy, you pay taxes and should get tax incentives which should always be quite favorable,” she said.
“And you can also encourage innovation and entrepreneurship. There is an economic multiplier that is clearly in existence when you bring in a foreign university.”
The Senate is debating Resolution of Both House No. 6, which proposes to lift restrictions on foreign ownership in public utilities, education and advertising.
On Monday, legislators filed Resolution of Both Houses No. 7, which also proposes the easing of limits on foreign entities in the 1987 Constitution.
Ms. McDonald noted the possibility of “brain drain” as a result of exchange programs, though at least some expatriates have a good chance of returning eventually.
“You never know, the appeal of home is always quite great and people often do return after their studies,” she said. “If it is set up correctly it is a situation of sharing of knowledge, systems, processes, and policies.”
Karol Mark R. Yee, executive director of the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM II), said the Philippines is among the strictest in the Southeast Asia region with regard to foreign ownership of schools.
“Allowing foreign ownership is just the first step,” he said. “Singapore and Malaysia rolled out government incentives to encourage the establishment of international institutions.”
He said that EDCOM II is prioritizing the internationalization of higher education and improving research productivity this year.
At the hearing, Senator Juan Edgardo M. Angara said basic education should remain in Filipino hands because they “play a very important part in the instilling of values and the molding of the youth.”
“Before we amend or seek to amend the Constitutional provision on ownership or management and control of higher education institutions, perhaps we should aim at greater precision in the language of the amendment.”
Hilario G. Davide, Jr., a former chief justice and one of the framers of the Constitution, told Senators earlier that Congress should focus on cutting red tape and corruption instead of easing foreign ownership restrictions in the Charter.
Albay Rep. Jose Ma. Clemente S. Salceda has said that opening the economy to foreign direct investment would help the administration achieve its goal of bringing the Philippines to middle-income status by 2025.
“Universities that come into the new environment bring with them their own industry partnerships which are already well-established,” Ms. McDonald said.