National Higher Education Day Summit 2024 (Speech) 05/15/2024

PICC, Pasay City
May 15, 2024
“No challenge demands greater attention than this. This is the highest priority. I have stated it before, but I will state it again that as far as my view of government service is concerned, the most important service that government must provide to its people is a good education,” stated President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. when he graced the Commission on Higher Education’s (CHED) National Higher Education Day (NHED) Summit at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City.
The President shared that as of December 2023, 81 Philippine Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) have been included in various world university rankings, reflecting a significant increase from the 52 HEIs included in July 2023.
However, he noted that in the recent Times Higher Education’s 2024 Asia University Rankings, no Philippine university reached the Top 100. “This just goes to show that much work is still to be done. We must pursue a comprehensive and all-encompassing strategy that would turn this trend around. The state of our education today shapes the future of the nation,” he said, emphasizing the important role of an educated and skilled workforce in driving the country’s economic prosperity.
“That is why improving higher education - and making it responsive to the present and future needs of society - is front and center of this administration’s national development agenda. The success of many of our plans for the country depends heavily on the availability of a strong, resilient, and skilled human resource to drive the nation forward,” he said.
He reiterated the Administration’s commitment to the continuing provision of free tertiary education in state universities and colleges (SUCs) for qualified students under the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, sharing further that PhP134 billion has been allocated this year so that more students and families will be eased of the burden of having to pay for college.
Nevertheless, the Chief Executive conveyed that democratizing access to education should not lead to the lowering of academic standards, and that appropriations do not always provide solutions to problems. “Even funding does not automatically guarantee that we will get our desired outcome. A solution, if intrinsically bad, does not become effective because it has become funded,” he stated, expressing further his hopes for the Summit to yield answers and solutions to the challenges and opportunities present in the country’s education sector.
He likewise urged all stakeholders to strengthen efforts towards an inclusive, equitable, accessible and sustainable higher education sector.
“Let us mold a new generation of critical thinkers, problem solvers, and visionaries who will realize our aspiration for a Bagong Pilipinas and bring us to a future of growth, opportunity, and prosperity,” President Marcos Jr. remarked.
The NHED Summit forms part of the celebration of CHED’s 4th National Higher Education Day and the 30th anniversary of its establishment under Republic Act (RA) No. 11522 on May 18, 1994. It offers an opportunity for leaders of higher education institutions to strengthen and forge further partnerships to collectively address issues and other concerns in the country’s education system.
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