For two years and counting, the country’s education landscape changed abruptly to accommodate students as they remained indoors for their safety. Students leveraged the power of technology and the internet to continue learning and progress in their education. But now that the situation is improving, the government and other individuals believe it’s time to reopen the schools.
Despite the drastic change and challenges among students brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, the education industry continues to see the eagerness of Filipinos to pursue their studies.
Now celebrating 18 years of championing quality education, PHINMA continues its mission of “making lives better through education.”
“We wanted to provide quality, accessible education that [by] intent and design, caters to those who need it the most: the underserved youth of our country,” said PHINMA Chairman and CEO Ramon R. del Rosario Jr. during PHINMA Education’s press briefing, held last Monday, July 18.
During their 18 years in the education industry, del Rosario shared that they learned significant lessons. Among them is the eagerness for students to learn even when faced with the toughest challenges.
PHINMA, a proudly Filipino conglomerate, has a long history in various industries, including housing, energy, finance, and construction materials. As they became more dedicated to providing essentials for a dignified life for Filipino families, they shifted their focus to education. Its mission is to lessen the barriers to entering college, allowing Filipino students, even from humble backgrounds, to realize their dreams.
The organization, made up of ten schools in the Philippines and Indonesia, offers over 110 programs covering the entire education chain and boasts a 75 percent passing rate for first-time board exam takers.
Among their recent efforts is enforcing learning strategies that respond to students’ needs. In the following school year, Flex Learning will move to a two to four system of two days of in-person classes and four days of remote and independent learning. It will distribute students’ face-to-face classes within a week to comply with the minimum public health standards.
Students and teachers will be assigned to only one shift to limit the number of people inside the campus. Self-sufficient modules, alternative assessments, streamlined instructions, and remote coaching will remain for both Flex Learning and RaDLearning.
Both learning strategies rely on printed materials and strong teacher and peer support through mobile data. PHINMA also partnered with Globe and PLDT Smart to provide students with mobile data every month.
PHINMA’s dedication to education also led to the largest enrollment in its 18-year history. This school year, 2021 to 2022, PHINMA Education welcomed 95,503 students, a 31 percent increase from 72,746 students in the previous school years.
Daisy C. Montinola, PHINMA’s finance chief, attributes the success to the company’s continuous efforts in securing learning for underserved communities during the previous two years when they needed it most.
In January 2021, PHINMA Education spearheaded the first Education@theMargins: A Global Alliance conference, gathering education industry experts from several countries, including South Africa, India, Australia, Finland, and the Philippines, to tackle the widening gap in education, helping marginalized students cope with the pandemic, and using technology to provide solutions for marginalized education.