Mapúa subsidiaries in sync with its bid for world-class education
Espousing similar core values and offering the same world-class education as those of their parent school, the Malayan Colleges Laguna (MCL) in the town of Cabuyao, Laguna, and the Malayan High School of Science (MHSS) in Pandacan, Manila, both of which are wholly owned subsidiaries of Mapúa Institute of Technology, are ready to take on the world.
MCL and MHSS are now setting a trend of educational excellence in tertiary and secondary levels, respectively, with their advanced facilities, academic programs, and generally high performance standards.
MCL is among the fi rst major institutions to branch out from the National Capital Region and set up campus in the burgeoning Southern Luzon, bringing along its best practices in education management and implementation. Intended to extend the quality of education Mapúa has been known for, MCL has since set its sights on being a center of excellence for science and technology education in the region, with its excellent facilities, technologically advanced and information technology-integrated curricula.
“Maintaining our high standards is intrinsic to our mission of producing the most sought-after graduates by various industries both here and abroad,” said MCL executive vice president and chief executive officer Dodjie S. Maestrecampo.
“Many of our systems are definitely advanced,” Maestrecampo added. “We want to make sure our students are exposed to all learning resources, and that our systems and our education programs are really current and relevant.”
One indicator of success that he takes pride in is the fact that many of the students that do on-the-job trainings in companies in nearby science and industrial parks get positive feedback from their employers. “The companies are very pleased with the performance of our students. Since our programs are really in demand by various industries, and companies are already taking note of the quality of our students, they have high chances of getting hired after they graduate.”
With 14 programs, MCL has five degree-offering colleges, namely the Mapúa Institute of Technology, the Mapúa-PTC College of Maritime Education and Training, the E.T. Yuchengco College of Business, the College of Information Technology and the College of Arts and Sciences. Currently, 45 percent of its students are enrolled in engineering programs.
“We graduated the first batch of IT students and so far, based on the initial data, it has been very encouraging. They are now employed in good companies with good starting salaries,” Maestrecampo said. “The same goes even for the graduates of our two-year programs and Digital Arts and Design.”
The “acid test,” however, will come next year when MCL’s first batch of engineering and accountancy graduates take their respective licensure examinations.
“They will graduate in March or April next year. The first batch of licensure examinees will be in October or November. So by that time, we’ll have the results,” he said. “That’s the time we will start to feel the fruits of our efforts. Everyone is waiting for our graduates.”
Being a subsidiary of Mapúa, MCL is already one step ahead of other schools in the region. “It’s always the brand, the Mapúa brand ... Mapúa is known for the quality of its education, as one of the best educational systems in the Philippines,” said Maestrecampo, a Mapúa alumnus.
“The intention of the school is to provide quality education to the youth, to the students of the south,” he said. “You don’t need to go to Manila and spend so much money just to get the same quality of education. It’s already here, right here complete with facilities, with teachers, plus the environment for learning is really excellent, even better than schools in Manila.”
He foresees MCL further expanding by 2014, with other programs being highlighted as well.
Quality Secondary Education
On the other hand, MHSS was built to succeed Mapúa’s pre-engineering high school to complement the expansion of the Institute’s academic offerings in science and technology and other fields.
It has a top-notch faculty, state-of-the-art facilities, and a curriculum that will allow students to “fully express not only their scientific inclinations but also their artistic bent.”
“We established this high school to give an opportunity to Filipino families to have their children, be they inclined towards the sciences or the arts (using various technology-based media), undergo an education of very high standards. We hope it opens many doors for them upon graduation,” said Dr. Reynaldo B. Vea, current head of Mapúa and its subsidiaries.
“One of these doors opens to MHSS’ mother school, the Mapúa Institute of Technology. For students inclined towards engineering and computing, an MHSS diploma gives them a straight path towards Mapúa programs accredited by the US-based ABET. This will make it easier for them to land jobs, get admitted to graduate school and directly take licensure examinations in the US and elsewhere. Those inclined towards multimedia arts also have a direct path to Mapúa’s top-notch program in this area,” Dr. Vea added.
MHSS graduates have the privilege to be automatically eligible for entrance to Mapúa, the country’s largest engineering school.
Since its foundation, MHSS has already gained recognitions from numerous academic and non-academic events. One major feat was its remarkable performance in the 2010 National Achievement Test (NAT). MHSS was recognized as one of the top-performing schools during the 2010 NAT, ranking 9th, two notches higher than 2009 results, among Manila private high schools.
Recently, MHSS was given free exclusive access to SAS Curriculum Pathways, the web-based, interactive, and standards-based resources in core subjects such as English, Math, Science and History, following the partnership between Mapúa and leading business analytics firm SAS.
“[SAS Curriculum Pathways] offers an alternative mode of engaging the students in the teaching-learning process. On the part of the teachers, it will add to their repertoire of teaching strategies to make teaching learning more effective. The SAS Curriculum is web-based and interactive, thus, we anticipate that it will generate greater interest among the students in focal subjects. By nature, students love to tinker with the computer and browse the web. In pedagogy, we know that interest in a subject leads to achievement,” said of MHSS principal Dr. Efren B. Mateo.
In line with the school’s goal to provide varied fields of interests in its curriculum, MHSS is also one of the few schools in the country that offers Robotics as a subject. Added Dr. Vea: “We wish, too, that our students will grow not only intellectually but also emotionally, socially, morally, spiritually and physically so that they can live life in balance and to the fullest in all respects. Indeed, we realize that high school is a very sensitive and important phase in young lives, and we therefore strive to make our students the center of our small universe.”