Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Elsie M. Pacho, represented Dr. Jaime I. Manuel, Jr. at the UK-Philippine higher education partnership presentation and reception City on June 8, 2022 in the British Embassy, Taguig.

DMMMSU was invited in the two-part event to celebrate the UK and the Philippines strong partnerships in higher education, in particular through initiatives supported by the British Council— along with the discussion on how institutions can further build on past successes during the second part of the event which was held at the British Ambassadors residence in Makati City.

Through the initiative of the Office of Internationalization, Linkages and ETEEAP headed by its director Dr. Jesus Rafael B. Jarata, DMMMSU was able to participate in the Access and Competitiveness through Internationalization of Higher Education (ACT-IHE) project, under the Commission on Higher Education, in partnership with the British Council.

DMMMSU has been selected as a grantee-participant for the English-medium education and internationalization training under the ACT-IHE, and is among the 17 SUCs in the country and the only SUC in Region 1 to have been selected in this said project.

The British Council has chosen DMMMSU to receive funds in partnership with CHED to implement a program aimed at increasing the use of English as a language of instruction in higher education institutions (HEI). The ACT-IHE project is the new flagship program of the British Council in partnership with the Commission on Higher Education that intends to enhance the quality of English as a medium of instruction (EME) in HEIs, thus strengthening the internationalization-at-home strategies of the participating institutions.

Three faculty members were nominated by DMMMSU and met the criteria for the English-medium education (EME) training program. They are Prof. Maria Elaine D. Pinay-an (NLUC), Dr. April R. Aquino (SLUC), and Prof. Aniza C. Gadaza (MLUC).  After rigorous orientation trainings and assessment tests, they attended EME Master Training Course last September 2021 offered by the University of Southampton, London, United Kingdom— as the training provider. As part of the return service agreement, each master trainer will have to select and train 20 higher education faculty (from the same SUC + other HEIs) from Region 1 immediately after attending the course.

At the moment, the EME trainers are conducting the two-week EME Cascade Training, entitled “Landscapes: Grounding the 21st Century Teaching and Learning In and With English”.

Through the partners’ meeting, administrators from the participating universities and colleges were able to forge new connections and catch up with colleagues. They were re-oriented about the transformations and innovations brought by the UK-PH collaborations, as well as the potential of bringing Philippine qualifications overseas through the power of edtech.

The British Council is the United Kingdom’s international organization for cultural relations and educational opportunities. (jrbj)