Launched in August 2016, the Transnational Education (TNE) Links Programme is a £1.15 million collaboration between the British Council in the Philippines and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).
The programme aims to provide capacity and funding support for higher education institutions in the Philippines to develop TNE programmes with UK universities on subject areas that are considered national priorities but remain unavailable locally.
Students from the Philippines will have the opportunity to access UK postgraduate programmes in their home country that are delivered by local higher education institutions in partnership with UK universities. These TNE programmes will be in the form of either a joint or double degree, or joint research leading towards graduate degree by research, and include at least six months of study in the UK.
Prior to the project, the Philippines had minimal TNE engagement compared to its ASEAN neighbours. According to a British Council study, only 14 institutions offer TNE programmes despite the Philippines having the necessary ingredients for programme mobility: a growing economy, an increasing youth population, a rise in higher education enrolment, and widespread use of English.
Through the project, the Philippines aims to develop the expertise of higher education institutions in both niche areas and priority disciplines identified as critical to the country’s attainment of its economic agenda. This includes areas such as food systems, disaster risk reduction management, big data, robotics engineering, and meteorology, among others.
To begin, the UK-Philippine partners embarked on key strategic activities to develop the TNE programmes including partnership meetings, academic and quality assurance workshops and site visits. In preparation for the launch of the courses in September 2018, the Philippine and UK institutions, together with the British Council and CHED, have started developing a campaign strategy to promote the postgraduate programmes.
The project is set to deliver 17 UK-Philippine postgraduate degrees which will include, among others, creative media technology, robotics engineering, food systems, disaster risk and reduction, and oceanography. It is estimated that around 100 students will visit the UK during it’s first run in 2018-2019, taking up part of their studies in the country for six months to a year.
To find out more about this programme, go to https://www.britishcouncil.ph/tne