抄録
The Philippines, with an estimated total population of 103,775,002 and an annual growth rate of 1.9%, remains to have an agriculture-based economy. Agricultural education in the country is institutionalized through the 110 State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) and the national university (University of the Philippines) that were created by the Acts of Congress. However, of the three million students enrolled in higher education only 2.8% are enrolled in agriculture, forestry, and fisheries degree programs. Some of the reasons for the decline in enrollment in agriculture are: a) negative perception of agriculture as a profession; b) insufficient government investment in SUCs; c) rapid urbanization of agricultural areas; and d) devolution of agricultural services to the local government units.
There are three important recent developments that pose opportunities and challenges for sustainable agricultural education in the Philippines: a) the enactment of the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2012 or the K-12 Basic Education Program which extends by two years the country’s previous 10-year education curriculum; b) the integration of the Southeast Asian economies into the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015; and c) the rise in the influence of global rankings of universities which underlies the internationalization of higher education.
For the University of the Philippines College of Agriculture, the implementation of the K-12 and the coming into force of the ASEAN 2015, provide opportunities for the improvement of the BS Agriculture curriculum and in the development and institutionalization of courses anchored in the sustainable agriculture framework with an ASEAN perspective. It could also lead to the improvement of the performance of the graduates, make the agriculture profession more attractive, and render the graduates more marketable for both local and ASEAN students. The need for a ‘common’ language among ASEAN higher education institutions is emphasized to facilitate student mobility, implement credit transfers and possible joint or double degree programs, and mixed mode degree programs and online courses.
