UAE, Philippines universities expand strategic partnership

Two tertiary private educational institutions in the UAE and in the Philippines have not only renewed their partnership born seven years ago in Dubai; but, extended this as well to enjoin another university affiliate that would benefit, at least for the remaining months of academic year 2024-2025, 19,907 students.

The renewed five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), between Skyline University College-Sharjah (SUC-Sharjah) – founded in 1990, under the patronage of His Highness Dr Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the UAE Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, and the Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Colleges-General Santos City (RMMC-General Santos) – established in 1957 as the Mindanao Vocational School in South Cotabato Province, by Atty. Eugenio Millado, was signed on Tuesday morning by SUC-Sharjah-Operations Deputy Vice Chancellor Naseem Abidi and RMMC-General Santos City President Kristoffer Franz Mari Millado.

With education having become borderless because of endless discoveries and innovation leading to endless streams of know-how, the first-ever MoU between SUC-Sharjah and RMMC-Koronadal City (South Cotabato) was also signed on Tuesday by Prof. Abidi and the President of the 16-year-old campus Ma. Andrea Patricia Millado.

Interviewed, SUC-Corporate Affairs & Outreach Department head Muhammad Rasheed Khalid said the expanded “strategic academic collaboration,” though founded in 2018, was formally adopted in 2022 “in pursuit of academic excellence, innovation, and global engagement.”

In the past two years, the collaboration has resulted in benchmarking and best practices sharing; joint ventures in several areas that include business innovation, digital transformation, and sustainability; smoother credit transfers and academic progression opportunities for students; deeper cross-cultural understanding brought about by student and faculty immersions, research/grant/conference tie-ups.

Specifically, SUC-Sharjah assistant professor Dr Sharon Mendoza-Dreisbach noted the visit of the RMMC-General Santos City College of Education students, and the webinar on halal by her Emirati Public Policy students with the RMMC-General Santos City Business Administration students “as the halal industry is immensely growing worldwide.” SUC-Sharjah-School of Computing & IT moreover conducted a “Machine Learning for Data Analysis” webinar with the RMMC-General Santos City International Community Department.

In his speech, RMMC-General Santos City’s Dr Millado, the founder’s grandson, expressed gratitude to the SUC-Sharjah leadership that has assisted them in their mission and vision to provide nothing but the best for their faculty members and students, even as throughout the 66-year existence, research and development (R&D) as well as technological know-how have been central to the institution: “Let us use this occasion to ignite more discussions, more collaborative projects, and more R&Ds that will prepare them for global citizenship in an interconnected world.”

SUC-Sharjah’s Khalid told Gulf Today that as challenges had emerged namely “logistical and administrative hurdles related to cross-border academic recognition, scheduling conflicts due to academic calendar differences, and funding and resource allocation for joint programmes and research, both parties have committed to establish a dedicated liaison office to streamline communications and documentation; coordinating harmonised academic calendars for major activities; and jointly seeking external funding and sponsorships to support collaborative projects.”

Over at the “Faculty and Staff Development Programme” presentation by RMMC-General Santos City Academic Affairs executive director Dr Geraldine Rodriguez and RMMC-Koronadal City Academic vice president Dr Albert Balangoy, their SUC counterparts and faculty members were impressed with the longevity of their employment as among their benefits – for health and wellness purposes – are “administration paid for” group annual overseas holidays.

SUC-Sharjah people are interested in e-library exchanges and ongoing community engagement projects particularly among the indigenous tribes within the South Cotabato-Cotabato-Sultan Kudarat-Saranggani-General Santos Region.

From the message of Philippine Consul General in Dubai and the Northern Emirates Marford Angeles, read by Public Diplomacy Officer Cyra Catherine Canto, emphasis was on the relevance of partnerships that “prepare our youth to become jobseekers, knowledge creators, solution seekers, and ethical leaders.”