Wesleyan University-Philippines sealed partnerships with industry leaders in its continuous pursuit for excellence and relevance especially in the increasingly digital world.

Through the university president, Judge Benjamin D. Turgano (ret.), WUP signed an alliance agreement with Lithan Academy, an accredited digital skills accelerator from Singapore, to jointly offer the latter’s applied degree to develop global ready digital talents for achieving growth in the digital economy.

Lithan’s Founder and CEO, Leslie Loh, and WUP President Judge Benjamin D. Turgano (ret.), signed the alliance agreement to offer Lithan’s applied degree in the university.

At the virtual MOA signing on December 1, 2020, Lithan’s Founder and CEO, Leslie Loh, said, “We envision the development of a Pan-Asia CLaaS® Alliance Network able to mitigate uneven demand and supply of digital skills & talents across Asia. We welcome Wesleyan University to join our expanding portfolio of university alliances across Asia to offer a borderless applied learning journey for developing global yet local digital talents to stay competitive in the new post-covid economy.”

On the part of WUP, President Benjamin D. Turgano expressed the deep concern on the mismatch between the output of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the Philippines and the industry requirements. He said: “This challenge has been further exacerbated by the pandemic which forced us to pursue a more aggressive preparation for the needs of a society driven by the fourth industrial revolution. This is why this partnership with Lithan is so timely, as the applied degree programs would capacitate our students to be global-ready and competitive in a highly digitalised world.”

Lithan’s innovation to support these emerging learning needs is CLaaS® – Competency Learning as a Service. It adopts competency-based curriculums with work-based applied learning pedagogy to deliver knowledge acquisition in the classroom and on-the-job skills mastery at the workplace using real-world projects. CLaaS® is delivered in blended learning mode with experts mentoring from industry practitioners.

About Lithan Academy

Lithan Academy is a lifelong learning and talents platform connecting students, professionals, and enterprises to applied learning degrees, on-demand personalized training and talent placement. Lithan is Edutrust certified and an accredited Centre for Continuous Education and Training (CET) by SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG), a government body under Singapore’s Ministry of Education. The academy is recognized for its learning innovations with awards including the Microsoft Global Learning Partner of the Year Award, Asia’s Pearson’s College of the Year Award, and IAL’s (Institute for Adult Learning Singapore) innovPLUS Flame Awards.

WUP signed an agreement with The British Council in exploring partnerships for English and assessment.

WUP President Judge Benjamin D. Turgano (ret.), British Council’s Regional Exams Manager Kishore Roy, and Business Development Manager for ExamsMike Cabigon, show the MoU after the virtual signing for the partnership.

The British Council has been administering the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) test in the Philippines since early 2000. In 2020, the test was delivered to more than 20,000 test takersin 20 locations. In 2018, the computer-delivered test was introduced and th Council has setup testing centres in its Bonifacio Global City premises and with partners in Cebu and Baguio.

Wesleyan University Philippines was chosen as a suitable venue for the conduct of paper-based and computer-delivered IELTS tests on a regular basis.

The IELTS is the high-stakes English test for study, migration or work. IELTS was one of the pioneers of four skills English language testing over 25 years ago, and continues to set the standard for English language testing today. It is jointly owned by the British Council, IDP: IELTS Australia and Cambridge Assessment English.

About The British Council

The British Council is the UK’s organization for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We have been in the Philippines since 1978, providing opportunities to Filipinos in the areas of education, English, arts and civil society.

SMART Communications, Inc. and WUP renewed their 17-year-old partnership through the Smart Wireless Engineering Education Program (SWEEP). WUP was the first National Winner of Innovation Technology when SWEEP started in 2003 and won again in 2015.

WUP President Turgano and Smart’s Center Head/AVP of Network Field Services Ronald S. Miranda, show the signed partnership agreement for Smart Sweep.

Ronald S. Miranda, Center Head/AVP of Smart’s Network Field Services, mentioned that their senior supervisor and transport specialist are alumni of WUP, and seven of eight engineers handling the operations and maintenance of SMART’s wireless network in Nueva Ecija and Aurora are from WUP as well. He mentioned this as evidence that WUP graduates are industry-ready, through the help of Smart.

Wesleyan University Philippines President, retired Judge Benjamin D. Turgano, conveyed the university’s deep pleasure in renewing the partnership and assured Smart of WUP’s best intentions and hard work to make the collaboration work for the benefit of the students.

“Rest assured that you have the commitment of the administration to make this partnership effective in enabling our students become better. We look forward to this continuing joint effort,” said President Turgano.

Ronald S. Miranda, Center Head/AVP of Smart’s Network Field Services, recalled that SMART Sweep and WUP started the partnershipin July 30, 2003.

“We started at a period when SMART was transitioning from analog to digital. You were with us when the wireless broadband services wer launched in 2009and still with us when we started working with mobile applications in 2014. Today, we are glad that you are with us in SWEEP Phase 4,” he said.

Smart SWEEP Phase 4 aims to:

  1. Help schools produce industry-ready IT and ECE graduates by providing access to equipment, capability-building activities and a platform for applications development and innovations;
  2. Provide opportunity to leverage on the converge services of PLDT Group of Companies to provide access to trainings on 5G, internet of things (IOT), cybersecurity, data visualization and storytelling, network virtualization ann the next generation of access and transportsystems; and
  3. Advocate to strengthen partnership with the school in community services initiative beyond SWEEP to enable, empower and expand opportunities of the base of the pyramid communities.

“Amidst the challenges brought about by the current health situation, we are still looking forward to a fruitful and meaningful partnership with WUP,” he ended.

About Smart SWEEP

SWEEP is short for Smart Wireless Engineering Education Program.  It is the only one of its kind industry-academe linkage program in the Philippines with a network of 32 colleges and universities all over the country that offer ECE and IT courses. For 16 years, Smart has partnered with these schools to help them produce industry-ready graduates or technopreneurs by leveraging on its network, infrastructure and technologies.

Under SWEEP, partner schools have benefitted from:

  • Technology trainings;
  • Last mile scholarships for deserving students taking up tech courses in partner State schools;
  • Access to the country’s first MOOCs offered by the UP Open University in partnership with Smart;
  • Access to a technology playground through an annual innovations competition; and
  • Access to a runway for commercialization of school projects.

SWEEP has received numerous local and international awards for its contribution to education.

Madame Belen M. Al-Humayed, the President of Bison Management Corporation, personally visited the Cushman campus of Wesleyan University Philippines to commence a partnership initially for the College of Nursing and Allied Medical Sciences (CONAMS).

WUP President Benjamin Turgano and Bison Management Corporation President Madame Belen Al-Humayed seal a partnership that will secure overseas employment for WUP’s nursing graduates. CONAMS Dean Dr. Wilfredo Ramos, Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Estrella Buenaventura, and Vice President for Administration and Finance Dr. Jerome Malaca witness the signing.

University President Judge Benjamin D. Turgano welcomed Madame Belen who stayed and shared blessings to the deans and heads at the simple Christmas gathering held after the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding. President Turgano said that Bison will be instrumental in ensuring employment of WUP’s nursing graduates abroad, particularly in Germany.

“I am pleased and humbled to bring to you the recruitment services of Bison Management Corporation, one of the most sought-after local recruitment agency in the Philippines. I believe that our success depends on the honesty and sincerity of employees in our advocacy in ‘Bridging People for a Better Life’ coupled with technology advancement and state of the art management innovation,” said Madame Al-Humayed in the company’s profile.

 

About Bison Management Corporation

Bison Management Corporation (BMC) is a privately-owned recruitment and placement company based in Makati, Philippines. For 35 years, Bison Management Corporation is able to uphold the highest business standards with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), earning the reputation of being one of the nests in the industry.