Education and Tertiary Accreditation in the Philippines
American colonization of the Philippines impacted the island nation in many ways that are still felt today. The politics, military, and economics of the archipelago clearly reflect the US colonial influence. This influence also extended to the educational system of the Philippines, most notably in the adoption of English as the language of instruction most schools, but it also affected the relationship between the government and postsecondary institutions. One of the enduring legacies of colonization in the Philippines is the manner in which tertiary institutions are recognized.
The Philippines is one of few countries in the world to adopt U.S.-style private accreditation. In most nations, quality control of colleges and universities is performed by the federal Ministry of Education or a similar body. Few nations even allow private accrediting agencies to exist. In the Philippines, like the United States, accrediting agencies have a strong presence in the post-World War II era. As occurs often with colonial remnants, however, the Philippines has made some significant adaptations to the American system of accreditation.
The major reason for the differences between the U.S. and Philippine accreditation system is the smaller size of the Philippines. Unlike the United States, where accrediting agencies are regional, the Philippine agencies are national. Postsecondary institutions in the Philippines choose accrediting agencies based on historical relationships rather than geographic locations. Accrediting agencies in the Philippines also differ in that they accredit individual programs as opposed to entire institutions, and enjoy a much better relationship with the government than their counterpart associations in the U.S.
Accrediting agencies in the Philippines date back to the early 1950s. The first three accrediting agencies, the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (PAASCU), the Association of Christian Schools and Colleges Accrediting Agency (ACSC-AA), and the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities Commission on Accreditation (PACU-COA), have worked together, establishing the umbrella Federation of Accrediting Agencies of the Philippines (FAAP) in 1977.
Although their focuses have shifted somewhat over time, PAASCU originally accredited mostly private Catholic institutions, ACSC-AA non-Catholic religious institutions, and PACU-COA non-sectarian institutions. These three agencies, in cooperation with the then-Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports (MECS), developed three levels of accreditation for private tertiary institution academic programs: Level I, indicating candidacy for accreditation, Level II, first-time accredited status, and Level III, re-accredited status.
The cooperation between FAAP and MECS reached a breaking point in 1984, however, when MECS attempted to absorb FAAP and make it a federal agency. This attempt was resisted by FAAP, and, with the overthrow of Ferdinand Marcos, FAAP and its members managed to maintain their independence. Since 1986, the number of tertiary institutions has exploded, and the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS), the successor to MECS, found itself increasingly unable to track the new institutions. In 1993, as part of major educational reforms in the Philippines, DECS spun off its tertiary institutions arm and created an independent Commission on Higher Education (CHED) under the Office of the President. As part of its work to bring some control to postsecondary education, CHED has looked to FAAP for assistance in maintaining quality standards. Together, the two organizations have taken accreditation far beyond its standing in the United States, with CHED providing substantial funding for FAAP and the establishment of Level IV accreditation, which grants programs government support. CHED has also encouraged the creation of the Philippines' first accrediting agency of public institutions, the Accrediting Agency of Chartered Colleges and Universities of the Philippines (AACCUP). This new body joined FAAP in 1996 and give FAAP members accrediting authority over almost all tertiary institutions in the Philippines.
With this new cooperation between CHED and FAAP, nearly 200 private institutions have accredited programs. Since there are nearly 1700 private tertiary institutions in the Philippines, this represents quite a small percentage of schools with any sort of accreditation. Perhaps because of FAAP's minimal public relations efforts, however, there remains little public concern of elitism or discrimination. Accreditation of programs at tertiary institutions may be widespread, but CHED has much to do to gain the acceptance of accreditation as a quality benchmark amongst most Filipinos.
*Excerpt from my Strategic Manangement report in
MBA Class 2000 PWU
Updated List of University and Colleges Accredited Shools@
http://web.ched.gov.ph/
http://web.ched.gov.ph/list-higher-education-institutions/