The idea of “research universities,” which is being promoted by the Commission on Higher Education and now debated by educators, is a response to the poor ratings of Philippine universities in the world’s list of excellent universities.
It has been known for some time that only four universities — University of the Philippines, Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University, and University of Sto. Tomas — stand out among the world’s best 200 or 300 universities.
Among Asian universities, these four are also among the top institutions. Foremost among the criteria for this distinction are the quality and the quantity of published (in ISI journals) research papers and scholarly studies under the category of “value for money.”
What about the rest of the 1,800 higher education institutions in the country?
The CHED should insist on, and relentlessly pursue the program of classifying higher institutions into few academic categories, giving appropriate and adequate support to each of them. This way, more of our higher education institutions that call themselves “universities” can become truly world class.
What CHED is attempting to do was done in the 13th and 14th centuries by teachers or scholars or both who constituted themselves as communities that sprang up in many great European centers of learning.
These communities evolved into universities in the course of time. Note that teachers and/or scholars were the prime movers in the establishment of universities in the past, implying that teaching and research, or research and teaching were the main reasons for the formation of universities in the two centuries.
Our higher educational system was patterned after that of the United States of America, which defines a university in terms of instruction usually beyond the bachelor level, research for discovery of new knowledge and new applications of that knowledge, and service to society (Encyclopaedia Britannica).
Universities in the U.S.A. offer mainly graduate studies, leaving undergraduate education to community colleges.
Thus, we in the 21st century can do no less, for it is clear that for an educational institution to be called a “university,” it must teach and conduct research and engage in scholarly studies. There are no “ifs” and “buts.”
Those that don’t teach and engage in scholarly activities should not be called “universities” in a real sense of the word. Only if we are serious about the distinctive functions of a university, are we able to join the ranks of the top universities in the world.
The outcomes and outputs of teaching and research must be confirmed by independent evaluators, and should not depend entirely on the word of an institution.
This evaluation based on international standards may be performed by accreditation bodies, which so far have not seriously evaluated the research and scholarly achievements of universities in the Philippines.
Raising the standards of higher education institutions in the Philippines through research and scholarly studies, as well as teaching requires a large effort and a firm commitment to international academic standards on the part of administrators and boards of trustees. It cannot be done by the CHED alone.