Philippine President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern witnessed the signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation between the Philippine Commission on Higher Education and New Zealand Qualifications Authority held during the Asean Summit bilateral meetings at the Philippine International Convention Center on Nov. 14, 2017.
CHED Chairperson Dr. Patricia B. Licuanan and New Zealand Ambassador to the Philippines David Strachan signed the MOC which aims to strengthen education cooperation and establish comparability of degrees between the two countries.
The Memorandum of Cooperation includes, but is not limited to, the following areas: a. exchange information about the New Zealand and Philippine education and qualification systems, including the roles and responsibilities of NZQA and CHED, academic program approval and quality assurance;
b. encourage technical cooperation that will be of mutual benefit to the participants; c. compare the levels of the Philippine National Qualifications Framework and the New Zealand Qualifications Framework beginning with a pilot project on the bachelor’s degree level; and d. exchange information as appropriate to support our mutual interest in international student welfare and safety.
“As more and more Filipinos want to live, study and work in New Zealand, it would be mutually beneficial for both countries to have an education cooperation agreement that provides a framework of transparency, accountability, respect and protection of our citizens towards access to education pathways, clearer comparability of qualifications and robust mobility of students and professionals,” Licuanan said.
Data from Tourism New Zealand show that Philippine arrivals to New Zealand now stand at over 23,000 Filipino visitors, while 29,800 New Zealanders visited the Philippines in the past year. More than 1% of New Zealand’s population are Filipinos, the 3rd largest and fastest growing Asian community. The Philippines is also New Zealand’s largest source of foreign students from the ASEAN region with over 4,000 Filipino students in the country.