The last month of 2007 brings with it interesting information about the “Top Twenty Schools in the Philippines.” Statistics indicating each school’s standing in their numerical categories were drawn as “a result of the study conducted by the Professional Regulations Commission (PRC) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED.One criterion used was based on the ‘average passing’ in terms of “board examinations of all courses of all universities and colleges in the Philippines.” It was likewise announced that the referenced “Top Twenty” study is “concluded every ten years.” Eleven institutions are Luzon-based, two from the Visayas and seven from Mindanao.

 

 

 

 

As the following rankings state, they are:

1. University of the Philippines (Diliman Campus/Luzon)
2. University of the Philippines (Los Banos Campus/Luzon)
3. University of the Philippines (Manila Campus/Luzon)
4. Siliman University (Dumaguete City/Visayas)
5. Ateneo de Davao University (Davao/Mindanao)
6. Ateneo de Manila University (Manila/Luzon)
7. University of Santo Tomas (Manila/Luzon)
9. Mindanao State University (Iligan Institute of Tech/Mindanao)
10. Saint Louis University (Baguio City/Luzon)
11. University of San Carlos (Cebu City/Visayas)
12. Xavier University (Cagayan de Oro/Mindanao)
13. Mindanao State University (Main/Mindanao)
14. Urios College (Butuan City/Mindanao)
15. Polytechnic University of the Philippines (Manila/Luzon)
16. De La Salle University (Manila/Luzon)
17. Mapua Institute of Technology (Manila/Luzon)
18. Adamson University (Manila/Luzon)
19. Central Mindanao University (Bukidnon/Mindanao)
20. University of Southern Philippines (Davao/Mindanao)

What reflections do the schools ranked as “Top Twenty” instill?

 Any reader would be inclined to state that those focusing on the quantitative sciences, technology, mechanical arts, applied sciences and the like achieved their ranks because of their role in today’s educational landscapes in line with global concerns that come with the majority of professional stipulations and requirements.

Since the one criterion that stands out in order to be included in the “Top 20”is based on the “average passing”: results that emerge from “board examinations of all courses” with so many colleges and universities from all over the nation’s three principal islands, then it is not that difficult to conclude that the courses offered by the above-named schools make the absolute cut required by the governmental agencies in the field of higher education. It is a highly encouraging sign that education has continued to remain high on the priority list of the homeland particularly in upholding quality rather than quantity with specialization made emphatic in technical fields.

Decades ago, the “rush to Manila” then the capital of the Philippines described as the center of education was a given. Now, as I look at the various venues of the “Top Twenty Schools in the Philippines,” I can appreciate how school proximity is no longer a grave concern for students to be that far away from their respective homes, particularly those from far-flung Mindanao. I remember my dormitory mates’ woes on how they had to make long travel preparations for their “Manila schooling,” and how they dealt with the pangs of homesickness, one of the variables in having to leave the warmth of their parental homes. I too could commiserate with my friends whose homes were in the Visayas and Mindanao and yet, I was just from Luzon.

Had the northern city of Baguio which I call home had the university education I could have availed of then, there would have been no adjustments with respect to weather conditions, familial separation anxieties and inevitable circumstances teenagers were bound to solve by themselves while being away from the family’s hearth for their first-ever long absence from kin. Indeed, educational venues and vistas have undergone boundless changes.