INDUSTRY-ACADEME PARTNERSHIP IN THE
KNOWLEDGE BASED SOCIETY
By: Dr. Carlito S. Puno
Commissioner, Commission on Higher Education
Republic of the Philippines
I. THE KNOWLEDGE BASED SOCIETY
There is now a sharp increase in desire for knowledge in all facets of present day society. More and more knowledge is integrated in all of our goods and services being produced. This growing intensity for knowledge affects every one in every aspects of their day-to-day living: as consumer, employee, entrepreneur, manufacturers, service providers or even students and faculty members. At the same time knowledge production and dissemination has become more and more dynamic and competitive. Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has become a very important vehicle with respect to accessibility, speed and distribution of information.
A young man told Socrates he traveled 1500 miles to gain wisdom and learning from him. Socrates asked the guy to follow him until they reached the part of the sea where the water was up to their waist. Then Socrates seized his young companion and forced his head under the water. When most of the resistance was gone Socrates released him and they returned to his place.
Socrates asked the young man: “When you were under water what was the one thing you wanted more than anything else?”
“I wanted air,” was the reply.
Then Socrates said: “When you wanted knowledge and understanding as badly as you needed air, you don’t ask anyone to give it to you.”
What Socrates wanted to stress is that what we needed most we must be able to provide by ourselves. The wisdom and knowledge we want most we must learn by ourselves. In other words we must learn how to learn. For us to participate in this kind of learning process we must determine its locus and its focus.
This has something to do with the role of knowledge in finding new ways and means of increasing productivity. Knowledge is seen here as the locus vis a vis innovation and creativity. Since human resources is a major determinant of production, then it must be equipped with the appropriate know-how to improve its competitive advantage.
They say education is not to make anything of anybody. It simply opens the minds of people - to go from cock sure ignorance to a thoughtful uncertainty and be able to envision a future which we ourselves can create.
Sydney Hook, a world reknown educator, believed while there is no substitute for intelligence, it is not enough. There are those who have the knowledge but do not have the moral courage to apply it. On the other hand, moral courage without intelligence can be dangerous - it leads to fanaticism. Education should develop both the intelligence and the courage.
A monument was to be made in honor of Pestalozzi, the great Swiss teacher. The sculptor succeeded so well in reproducing the likeness of the honoree standing with a student kneeling and looking at the great teacher. His intimate friends felt the sculptor failed to capture the dominant desire of Pestalozzi - for his students not to admire him but to look upward to God and to the challenging heights of goals to be attained.
Confucius throughout his life believed only education can set men free. He said every piece of marble has a statue in it just waiting to be released by a man of sufficient skill to chip away the unnecessary parts. Just as the sculptor is to the marble, so is education is to the soul. Only the educated are free. Statues cannot be created by smashing the marble with a hammer. Likewise by force of arms you do not release the spirit or the souls of men. Education as envisioned by Confucius is a very complicated process. It can make or destroy the learner, depending on the skill of the teacher. It needs appropriate skills, patience, understanding and perseverance
Sydney Hook stressed the need to develop intelligence and courage. Pestalozzi wanted guidance from the Almighty and being focused on lofty goals to be attained. Confucius believed only those individuals freed by education can get things done.
These are great teachers because through out their lives they learned continuously. So that the knowledge they supply to their students came from a flowing stream and not from a stagnant pool.
One major policy issue here will be the kind of interaction between the knowledge provider and the knowledge learner.
II. THE SCIENCE SYSTEM IN THE KNOWLEDGE BASED ECONOMY
A country’s science system plays a very important role in a knowledge based economy. Higher Educational Institutions and public research laboratories are the core infrastructure of the science system. It’s a major contributor to the key functions of:
1. Knowledge Production
Researches in universities and public research institutions are the major contributors of new knowledge (which is also known as science). There is also the knowledge generated by more applied or commercial research which is what the market needs and the “technology” end of the spectrum. In the knowledge based economy the distinction between basic and applied research and between science and technology has become blurred. Science has been considered that part of knowledge which cannot and should not be appropriated by any single member or group in a society. It should be broadly disseminated as it is broadly applicable across a wide and rapidly expanding human field of endeavor. Technical knowledge comes more from the refinement and application of scientific knowledge for practical use.
There may no longer be a fundamental difference in the character of scientific and technological research, which can be produced as joint products of the same research activity. Studies of research process have shown that technological improvements often use minimum of scientific inputs and the search for technological solutions can be a source of new scientific questions and answers. In the process the traditional base of the science system, higher educational institutions and public research laboratories no longer dominate the production of scientific knowledge.
2. Knowledge Transmission
In the knowledge based economy, learning becomes extremely important in determining the future of people, the industry and the economy. The capability of individuals to learn and apply new skills are necessary to the absorption and using of new technologies. Highly qualified researchers and properly trained technicians are essential for the production and application of scientific and technological knowledge.
The increase in the number of researchers in universities has been lower compared to the private sector. Less research in universities, public laboratories and industry means fewer careers in science and insufficient development of future scientists. In addition to lower research budget universities are facing the problem of providing a broad based education to an increasing number of citizens while also directing high level training in the graduate and postgraduate levels. There has been a sharp increase in the number of young people enrolled in higher education leading to increase tensions between the quality and quantity of education. There now appears to be a divergence between researchers for the industry and training researchers for the educational mission of the university.
3. Knowledge Transfer
One of the distinctive features of a knowledge based economy is the recognition that diffusion of knowledge is as equally important as the production of knowledge. We now witness the increase in “knowledge distribution networks” and national systems of innovations. These are the institutions that facilitates and promotes the use of knowledge in the economy by providing the necessary linkage. They enhance the country’s capacity to utilize innovations there by maximizing the contributing of technology to improve productivity and product development.
In higher education, the industry/academe functional tie up improves the relevance of the school’s mission-vision statement and a redirection of their research agenda. This a vehicle for the efficient transfer of appropriate technology and advance training in the skills required by the industry. One disadvantage is that large amount of industry funds for university research will make it specialize in the needs of a particular industry and may affect the range and character of research projects. This will also make the university to become more and more dependent on the private sector for funding. A university/industry linkage may become the norm in many areas of applied research and the traditional contribution of the academe in the production of scientific knowledge may weaken in the name of increasing its economic relevance.
There are also expressed concerns that the industry/academe tie up may consolidate excellent researchers in a handful of universities or research centers. Collaborative efforts often necessitates geographic proximity and a large base of expertise with a complementing infrastructure to assure the transfer of appropriate technology. These research concentrations give rise to science and technology parks and may alienate smaller schools or research centers. These excluded schools will be constrained in making their students have exposure on high quality research projects. However, these concerns may be unfounded since researchers can now be linked electronically.
III. STATE OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION IN THE PHILIPPINES
Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is changing the world very fast. Whether its through Internet where more than 500 million people are connected or whether simply watching people, young and old in all walks of life attentively using their cellphones. ICT is creating new lifestyles, new ways of doing business, or even emerging institutional governance. The letter “e” from the word “electronic” is affixed to various human and business enterprise, such as e-learning, e-commerce, e-governance, e-mail, e-bank, and what else have you.
To take advantage of the potentials of ICT for fueling the engine of its economic take-off in the ‘90s and expansion in the twenty-first century, the Philippine government adapted the national Information Technology Agenda for the Twenty-First Century or IT21. The Internet Strategy for the Philippines or ISP is mandating national entities, particularly the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and Department of Education (DepEd), to be lead agencies in policy formulations, in initiating programs and projects, and in promoting ICT to accelerate its contribution to the country’s national development.
The First National IT Summit conducted on September 4, 1995 painted a scenario of hope and promises, of exciting opportunities, and of rewarding benefits for many believers and would-be adopters of ICT. Subsequently, the level of hope and aspirations are raised as various symposia, seminars, conferences, workshops and training programs, giving high hopes and high expectations to ICT. It was a sort of a revolution of rising expectations.
The education sector, DepEd, TESDA and CHED and the higher educational institutions (HEIs), have been tasked to make paradigm shifts in the curricular offerings and in the instructional delivery mode to the emerging reality and demands of digital education. In 1998, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), together with DepEd, TESDA and DOST adopted the Education Technology Master Plan (ETMP) which aims to support the transformation of the Philippines into one of Asia’s Knowledge Center over the next 15 years. CHED then defined the agency’s three goals in consonance with ETMP as follow:
CHED likewise proceeded to form the Technical Panel for Information Technology Education (TPITE) and tasked this body to do the following:
With regards to the implementation of the e-Commerce Law, CHED created a technical working group (TWGO) to formulate the work plan that will define the e-Commerce enabling projects of CHED. Finally, CHED will install Information System Plan (CHED-ISP) that will centrally manage and operate the agency’s base as well as decentralize the processing of information systems concerning Higher Educational Institutions and CHED regional offices.
The following policy issues are now being raised. After ten years of the introduction of information technology in education, where are the tertiary educational institutions in the implementation and development of knowledge and skills in ICT? What kind and extent of support and incentives do the government and private sectors give the tertiary schools in the access to ICT and the acquisition of its basic requirements? What is the status of the broad availability and connectivity of Higher Educational Institutions to technologies to enable them to create new models for a digital education? With the reality of a Digital Divide between the developed and developing countries, is there also the gap in the Higher Educational Institutions between the “haves” and the ‘have-nots” with regard to ICT?
IV. YEUNGJIN COLLEGE: A Case Analysis In Industry / Academe Tie-up
The school was founded by Dr. Dal-Gon Choi, a retired military officer in the Air Force in South Korea in March 12, 1972. It is situated in Daegu which was the center of the renowned Shilla Culture. Since then it has grown by heaps and bounds and has won the following honors and awards:
December 20, 1994- Ranked No. 1 in a nationwide evaluation of junior colleges by the Ministry of Education, ROK
July 2, 1996- Ranked No. 1 among Korean junior colleges and No. 3 in the field of information management among 316 junior colleges and universities by the evaluation of the Ministry of Education, ROK
October 29, 1997- Ranked No. 1 in an evaluation of information among Korean junior colleges and 4-year universities, selected as an excellent technical junior college by the Ministry of Education, ROK
December 31, 1999- Won a prize from the Korean Ministry of Information and Communication on development of info-communication industry and technology
June 1, 2000- Selected as an excellent college in information and communication by the Ministry of Information and Communication, ROK for 4 consecutive years
May 25, 2001- Selected as a top-10 excellent Venture Business Incubation Centers evaluated by Ministry of Small and Medium Business Promotion, ROK
July 23, 2001- Selected as an excellent technical college with specialized programs by the Ministry of Education and Human Resources for 5 consecutive years, ROK, and selected as a college keeping an excellent linkage with industries by the Ministry of Education and Human Resource for 3 consecutive years, ROK
August 2, 2001- Selected as an excellent college in industry-college cooperation category evaluated by the Ministry of Education and Human Resources, ROK for 4 consecutive years
July 9, 2002- Selected as the top ranked in the junior college category in 2001 National Customer Satisfaction Index (NCSI) evaluated by Korean Productivity Center and University of Michigan for 2 consecutive years
As of March, 2003, it has an enrollment of 8525 students, 327 faculty members and 70 non-teaching staff. It has established academic linkages with 24 universities in 8 different countries. It’s distinctive feature which is actually its strength is in its functional tie ups with 600 business firms in their region. Among the colleges in Korea it could have the most number of industrial linkages. They offer services such as consultancy, training of skilled workers and the use of their high technology facilities.
Their “customized education” was envisioned to give a highly focused and relevant training for the industry needs. They have trained faculty members who are continuously monitoring technical and training needs of different industries. They “customize” their course content and instructional methodologies to answer very specific needs in the region. To make their instruction relevant to these industry needs industry experience is given top priority in the hiring of faculty members. A minimum of five years’ experience is needed in choosing their faculty. These new faculty recruits are given intensive training in instructional methodologies and curriculum preparation and adaptation.
They see to it that their equipments and facilities are technologically advanced. Sometimes it is more modern than what the industry is using. This assures their graduates of advanced skills training not yet available even in the industry. While they provide only two years college education their graduates are offered salaries equivalent to a four year college degree holder. Big industries in Korea are the donors in the procurement of their advanced laboratory equipments.
This is one educational institution that makes a difference because it is so different and unique. This is a classic example of institutional marketing being effectively applied in education. They continuously create a demand for their academic programs. They are very sensitive and highly focused in the industry needs. Many higher educational institutions will have a very difficult time using this educational approach and instructional methodology. An old and established tertiary school will have to undergo major changes in their faculty line up which places academic degrees as a major requirement in faculty hiring and ranking. This will be a big constraint in effectively using the “customized education” approach. The old faculty members will surely resist this new way of hiring and ranking of faculty members. Training these faculty to shift from a highly theoretical methodology to a more practical or applied approach will be met with strong resistance. The policy of educational accrediting agencies giving more points to academic degrees than actual industry experience may not be easy to do.
V. CONCLUSION
Different countries all over the world are now becoming more and more knowledge based. Knowledge is becoming integrated in practically all facets of our daily living and can readily be seen in goods and services being produced. The extent of a country’s being knowledge based is affected by its economic situation. Meanwhile, knowledge production, dissemination, and utilization have become dynamic and competitive.
Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) and public research laboratories have been the core structure in the production of knowledge in the country’s science system. Lately knowledge is also being generated by a more applied or commercial (industry) research and is strongly influenced by marketing needs, product development and improvement in productivity. In the knowledge based economy learning and absorption of new technologies become important in determining the future of people, industry and the economy.
Universities and other tertiary schools are now facing problems that hinder their knowledge production function. In addition to their decreasing research budgets they also have the problem of providing a broad based education to an increasing number of clientele. There is also the observation that there is a divergence in producing researchers for the industry and training researchers for the educational mission of the university.
The normative perspective in the production and utilization of knowledge is also being raised. Will the new knowledge contribute to the sense of community in our present generation? Can knowledge be used to prevent or resolve conflicts in culture, religion and civilization? Or can the production and use of knowledge lead to a more equitable and just society? Educators in the past (like Socrates, Confucius, Pestalozzi, Sydney Hook and others) had always advocated the need for a value laden production and dissemination of knowledge.
The industry/academe tie-up is an important vehicle
in the effective transfer of appropriate technology and advance training in
the skills needed by the industry. This functional tie-up can also improve
the relevance of the mission/vision statements of the higher educational institutions.
The advantages of this linkage far outweigh the possible disadvantages.
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