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Knowledge Economy
https://youtu.be/WFQKE5UMbt8

Universities in the Philippines

Reference: https://www.topuniversities.com/where-to-study/asia/philippines/guide#tab=2

TOPUNIVERSITIES

Country Guides

Study in the Philippines

A newly industrialized country and emerging market in Asia, the Philippines has welcomed an increasing number of international students in recent years, and is also a popular tourist destination – not surprising when you look at those tropical, sunny beaches. However, the Philippines has more to offer than an attractive coastline; those who study in the Philippines will be able to explore its fascinating mix of Islamic, Malay, Spanish and American influences on Filipino culture.

Read on to find out about the top universities in the Philippines, student cities, applications and more.

Not only is the Philippines a beautiful country, it also has one of the best higher education systems in Asia, ranked 46th in the first edition of the QS Higher Education System Strength Rankings. Offering the opportunity to study in English at an affordable cost, the Philippines attracts over five thousand international students a year from across the globe, with most coming from other countries in East Asia.

There are almost 2,300 higher education institutions in the Philippines, the majority of which are private. Many universities are affiliated with Roman Catholicism, which reflects the country’s colonial past. Of the public institutions funded by the government, the national university, University of the Philippines, receives the most funding.

Four top universities in the Philippines are ranked among the world’s best in the QS World University Rankings® 2018, with a further two featured in the QS Asia University Rankings 2018. The top four are:

University of the Philippines 

Ranked joint 367th in the World University Rankings 2018 and 75th in Asia, the University of the Philippines (UP) is actually a public university system made up of seven constituent universities and a total of 15 campuses across the country. Its flagship campus and administrational seat is the University of the Philippines Diliman, which is located in Quezon City and teaches around 22,765 students. UP was founded by the American colonial government in 1908 and has since gained a strong reputation, consistently referred to as the top university in the country. It currently ranks among the top 150 universities in the world for English language and literature and in the top 250 faculties around the world for social sciences and management.

Ateneo de Manila University

The Ateneo de Manila University is a private research university which ranks 551-600 in the world rankings and joint 95th in Asia. Its four campuses are located in the Metro Manila region, with the main campus in Quezon City. Founded in 1859 by the Society of Jesus, it’s one of the country’s oldest universities. Ateneo ranks as one of the top 200 universities in the world for English language and literature, and its arts and humanities faculty is ranked as one of the top 350 in the world.

De La Salle University 

Next among the top universities in the Philippines, De La Salle University (DLSU) is ranked 701-750 in the world and 134th in the latest edition of the QS Asia University Rankings. DLSU is a private, Roman Catholic research university which was founded in 1911 by the Brothers of the Christian Schools and was originally a boys’ school. It teaches around 18,500 students and has a main campus in the heart of Manila. Like the Ateneo de Manila University and the University of the Philippines, DLSU ranks within the top 200 universities in the world for English language and literature. 

University of Santo Tomas 

The University of Santo Tomas (UST, also known as Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, or the Catholic University of the Philippines) is ranked 701+ in the world rankings and 157th in Asia. UST is a private, Roman Catholic research university located in Manila, and has the distinction of being the oldest university in both the Philippines and Asia, having been established in 1611. It’s also one of the largest Catholic universities in the world, with over 42,000 students. UST has been rated four out of five stars in the QS Stars benchmarking system, and was recognized as having the most accredited programs in the country in 2013.

Japan's Universities

Why Japan’s universities continue to fall in global rankings

BY TAKAMITSU SAWA

HIKONE, SHIGA PREF. – The World University Rankings 2018, published by Times Higher Education (THE) in September, shows a continued decline of Japanese universities — with only two of them, the University of Tokyo (43rd) and Kyoto University (74th), ranked among the world’s top 200 institutions. In the 2014 ranking, five Japanese institutions were among the world’s top 200, but just two years later, the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Osaka University and Tohoku University failed to make the cut.

A target proposed to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2013 by the government’s council on resuscitation of education called for having at least 10 Japanese universities among the global top 100 within a decade. But the target now seems out of reach.

Among universities in Asia, the University of Tokyo had long occupied the top position except in 2010 when it was overtaken by the University of Hong Kong. But it fell to third place in 2016 behind the National University of Singapore and Peking University, and has now dropped to sixth, trailing behind three more schools — Tsinghua University, the University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

THE ranks universities on the basis of weighted average in five categories each with the maximum of 100 points: teaching (30 percent of the total score), research (30 percent), citations (30 percent), international outlook (7.5 percent) and industry income (2.5 percent). Japanese institutions lag behind their overseas counterparts especially in citations. The number of times that papers authored by teachers of a particular university has been cited is regarded as an appropriate measure of the influence or quality of the papers. A low score in this category means that Japanese universities have fewer researchers who publish treatises worthy of being cited by many of their peers in their relevant fields around the world.

The citations scores for the six leading Asian universities are as follows: the National University of Singapore (ranked 22nd worldwide, with citation score of 81.3 points), Peking University (27th, with 74.2), Tsinghua University (30th with 71.4), the University of Hong Kong (40th with 74.2), the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (44th with 93.1), and the University of Tokyo (46th with 63.7.) The total score for the National University of Singapore was 82.8 and that for the University of Tokyo 72.2. Since the citations score accounts for 30 percent of the total, half of the gap between the final scores of the two universities came from their difference in citations.

It should be noted that the scores in citations are given only to papers written in English, and measured on the basis of the number of citations per teacher. While it is common for Japanese university teachers in the field of natural sciences to write their papers in English, a large majority of those in humanities and social sciences write theirs in Japanese and seldom submit them to international academic publications. That is why in this category, Japanese institutions fall far behind not only British and American universities but also those in countries like Singapore and China.

Since THE surveys only treatises that are written in English, it is only natural that British and American schools receive overwhelmingly high scores. In Germany, where writing papers in English is taken for granted, 10 universities ranked among the global top 100. In contrast, only one French university was among the top 100, as there still is a strong tendency in France to write treatises in French.

Many people seem to have a false notion that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology offers curriculums only in natural sciences. In fact it offers a wide variety of courses in humanities and social sciences. In the field of social sciences, economics and humanities, THE ranked MIT second only to Stanford University. Similarly, the London School of Economics and Political Science, which specializes in the humanities and social sciences, placed 25th overall.

The California Institute of Technology, which had topped THE’s list for five consecutive years through 2016, was surpassed in the 2017 ranking by the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge. That was presumably because beginning with the 2017 list, not only academic papers but also books published by the researchers have been counted toward the scores, raising the degrees of contributions made by those in the fields of humanities and social sciences.

Providing teachers in humanities and social sciences at Japanese universities with incentives to write books and theses in English would not only be a must for elevating their global standings but also the most cost-effective approach toward the goal. In that sense, the notice given in June 2015 in the name of the education minister calling for either the abolition or transformation of graduate schools in humanities and social sciences was inappropriate.

The recent rapid decline of Japanese universities’s rankings is attributable to major strides made by their counterparts in Singapore, China and South Korea.

There is one other major factor, however. In terms of the national budget earmarked for education as a percentage of gross domestic product, Japan is at the tail end of the list among the 34 OECD member countries. The Japanese government has for many years followed a self-contradictory policy of not increasing funding for education and research while emphasizing their importance. In stark contrast, Japan’s three East Asian neighbors have been rapidly increasing their spending on higher education.

There are in fact three problems with the current THE World University Rankings. First, Japan need not be overly concerned with the outcome of THE’s survey, which reviews only treatises and books written in English, thus giving an overwhelming advantage to schools in English-speaking countries.

Second, while THE places emphasis on education and research, with each given 30 percent of the final score, 18 points of that 30 percent are determined by the public reputation of each institution. This means that the reputation assessments given by third parties of each university’s education and research is the key factor in the university rankings. A large majority of those who assess the reputation factor are Americans and Europeans. With subjective assessment related to reputation accounting for 36 percent of the total score, the objectiveness of THE’s survey may be subject to questions.

Third, in the field of humanities and social sciences, the meaning of “research accomplishments” is not clear. Until two years ago, they were assessed solely on the basis of treatises printed in specialist publications after passing a peer review. Since last year, however, published books have also been reviewed. In many cases, the social influence of researchers in these disciplines becomes apparent more through their books than their academic papers. Even in the field of natural sciences, citations is only one of the many yardsticks to determine the value of the papers. The 30 percent weight given to citations seems excessive.

Takamitsu Sawa is a distinguished professor at Shiga University.

Reference: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2017/12/24/commentary/japan-commentary/japans-universities-continue-fall-global-rankings/#.Ww35QMirSM9

Education in Asia

Watch the video:

https://www.facebook.com/adbphco/posts/658348954501087 About the Education Sector in Asia

Listen and answer the following questions:

1. Who is the speaker? What is her job?

2. What are the issues she mentioned concerning the quality of education?

3. According to her, what does the Philippines need to achieve higher income level?

31 Facts You Probably Didn't Know About The Philippines

Source: https://www.buzzfeed.com/mattortile/buzzfeed-bayan?utm_term=.paBl7mODK#.mhwMGqNA7

1. The Philippines is the world's leading producer of coconuts, having produced 19.5 million tons of the fruit in 2010.

2. According to the 2000 census, 52 million people in the Philippines speak English, making it the fifth largest English-speaking nation behind the U.S., India, Pakistan, and the U.K.

3. Of the top 10 largest shopping malls in the world, three are found in the Philippines: SM Megamall, SM North Edsa, and SM Mall of Asia.

4. The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River in Palawan is 8.2 kilometers long. Until the discovery of a 10-kilometer underground river in Mexico, the Puerto Princesa River was the longest subterranean waterway in the world.

5. Ferdinand Magellan arrived in the Philippines in 1521, marking the start of the archipelago's colonization under Spanish rule, a 377-year period that lasted until 1898.

6. The islands were dubbed "the Philippines" after King Philip II of Spain.

7. As a result of the Spanish influence, the country is predominantly Christian with 90% of the population practicing some mode of Christianity, the vast majority being Roman Catholic.

8. The world's largest Christmas lantern was illuminated in San Fernando, Pampanga on Dec. 24, 2002. The structure was 26.8 meters in diameter and cost five million Philippine pesos.

9. Pope John Paul II offered a mass to about five million Filipinos on Jan. 18, 1995, at Luneta Park in Manila. The event went into the Guinness Book of World Records as the Biggest Papal Crowd at the time.

10. In 2009, about 1.39 billion SMS messages were being sent in the Philippines daily. The country was one of the earliest adopters of text messaging, earning the moniker "text capital of the world" from the mid '90s to the early 2000s.
11. The English word 'boondocks' is actually a Filipino loanword: the Tagalog word for 'mountain' is 'bundok.'

12. The word entered the North American vernacular in the 1940s, just as the Philippines became involved in the Second World War.

13. Taal Volcano in Talisay, Batangas, is one of the world's 17 Decade Volcanoes — volcanoes that need to be looked after given their active state and explosive history. It's also located in a lake, and has a lake inside it, with an even smaller island in it!

14. The amount of sulfur dioxide expelled by Mount Pinatubo during its eruption on Jun. 15, 1991, created a two-year haze of sulfuric acid all over the world. It caused global temperatures to drop by 0.5 °C (0.9 °F).

15. A Filipino named Roberto del Rosario made the karaoke machine in 1975, but a Japanese musician invented it four years earlier. Del Rosario, however, was the first to patent the product, which makes him the first patented producer of the karaoke.

16. In the province of Camiguin, there are more volcanos (seven) than towns (five). There hasn't been an eruption since the mid 1950s, but the island has the most number of volcanoes per square kilometer in the world.

17. The positioning of the Philippine flag's colors indicate a message. If it is flown with the red stripe on top, the nation is in a state of war. Otherwise, during peacetime, the blue is on top.

18. The modern yo-yo takes its name from a word in the Philippine language Ilocano, yóyo.

19. The University of San Carlos in Cebu City was founded by Spanish Jesuits in 1595, making it the oldest school in the Philippines.

20. Then in 1611, the University of Santo Tomas (or, lovingly, "Usté") was founded in Manila by the Dominican Order. It is the world's largest Catholic university in terms of population. Both it and University of San Carlos are older than Harvard, which was not founded until 1636.

21. The cone of the sea snail Conus gloriamaris is a highly valued collector's item, the first examples of which were found in the Philippines and sold at auction for upwards of $5,000.

22. In 2002, the world's biggest pair of shoes were made in Marikina City. The wingtips clock in at about 5.3 meters in length, 2.4 meters in width, and almost 2 meters in height. They cost two million Philippine pesos.

23. Manila, the capital city of the country, takes its name from a white flower that grew on mangrove trees, locally known as nilad. 'May nilad' can be translated to mean 'there are nilad there.'

24. The rice terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The terraces were built about 2,000 years ago and — thanks to the rough terrain keeping settlers out — remain as they would have been in pre-colonial times.

25. The Philippines has won at least eight major international beauty pageant titles: two for Miss Universe; five for Miss International; and at least one for Miss World, the current titleholder being Megan Young.

26. About 25 years before the first book was printed in the United States, the Tagala, the first Filipino-Spanish dictionary, was printed in 1613.

27. After the Second World War, the Philippine jeepney was born out of the G.I. Jeeps American soldiers brought to the country in the 1940s. It's Pinoy upcycling!

28. The Philippines' approximately 300,000 square kilometers (115,831 sq mi.) of land area are spread over 7,107 islands.

29. This gives the country 36,289 kilometers (22,549 mi.) of coastline and puts the Philippines at fifth place for the longest discontinuous coastline in the world.

30. Depending on the method of classification, there are 125 to 170 languages in use in the Philippines, such as Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocano, Hiligaynon, Bicolano, Waray, and Kapampangan.

31. The Philippines welcomed its 100-millionth citizen on July 27, 2014, making the country the seventh most populated country in Asia and the 12th in the world.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Tourism

 

So many places in the world rely heavily on tourism as a key source of income and employment nowadays, as well as a way of showing off national and local heritage, plus perceived successes.

Unfortunately, tourism can also be a source of problems too, especially if it is not managed correctly. A constant flow of foreign visitors can, for instance, undermine the beauty, uniqueness, character, and social coherence of a tourist destination over time.

It is easy to underestimate the scale of world tourism without being aware of the figures. There were estimated to be around 983 million international tourist arrivals In 2011 — this is nearly a 5 percent increase on the numbers in the previous year.

Travelers in those sorts of numbers can easily present huge challenges and problems for many destinations, including transport, places to stay, policing, and maintenance.

Advantages

• It brings in money. This is probably the main advantage of tourism and the reason why it has been promoted so much in recent years in developing countries especially. Whether in developing or developed countries, the income generated can make up a significant proportion of the national income.

• It provides jobs for the locals. Hotels, bars, transport, shops, and restaurants all need staffing. Tourism can provide much-needed employment for people.
• It raises the profile of the place generally. Tourism gives the locality a chance to show itself off and raise its profile in the world.
• It can provide a incentive for investment in infrastructure such as roads and rail networks, as well as funding local medical and education facilities.
• It can provide economic incentives for a place to preserve, regenerate, and provide upkeep in their urban and wildlife areas.
• Visitors promote international links, which can provide more business and cultural connections in the medium to long term.

Disadvantages

• Tourism can often cause environmental damage with things like pollution and forest fires. Even if tourists behave responsibly, the sheer number of the them can cause problems. Things like ancient buildings, monuments, and temples often struggle to cope with the vast amounts of tourist traffic and they suffer wear and tear or damage.
• The commercialization of culture can undermine the soul of a tourist destination. Local traditions that have a rich cultural heritage are reduced to wearing costumes and putting on acts for the tourists in return for money.

• Tourists can often lack respect for local traditions and culture, not following local dress standards, getting drunk in public, or behaving rudely or inappropriately towards locals.
• Although often jobs are created by tourism, most are relatively low level, such as bar work, hotel service, restaurant serving, and so forth. They also have little prospect for promotion.
• Tourism jobs are quite commonly seasonal and insecure with no extra benefits, such as pensions, sick pay, or health care. Some areas can be inundated with visitors during busy times, and then virtually deserted for many months.
• Money can end up being directed to tourist areas when it could be used more effectively elsewhere in a country. The locals who don’t live in specific tourist areas miss out and suffer relative decline.

• Often times, most of the tourism industry (travel companies and hotels, for one) in a developing country is actually owned by big foreign companies. They make the major profits, leaving local businesses with relatively little benefit.
• There is often an imbalance, where it becomes so successful that other forms of income generation are neglected and an economic dependence on tourism forms. This is fine in good times, but it can leave the country vulnerable to economic ruin. This can lead to political upheaval, terrorist attacks, or natural disasters, and tourism consequently dips or dries up altogether.

Source: https://soapboxie.com/economy/Advantages-and-disadvantages-of-tourism 

 Pros and Cons of Tourism

Pros:

• It is good for a region’s economy, creating jobs based on the tourist influx and businesses like hotels and boutiques that cater to tourists.
• It allows visitors to experience a region in a planned and expected way; tourist destinations are organized in a way where there are usually enough hotels and restaurants, for example.
• Regions that get a lot of tourism have the incentive to keep their area clean and safe, which benefits all residents.
• Added sales taxes collected from tourists may benefit local infrastructure and schools.

Cons:

• The kinds of jobs tourism creates are often low-paying service jobs, like maids and store clerks.
• Added tourists put strains on an environment; for example, litter, excess traffic on roadways, and overcrowded beaches and parks.
• Added tourists put strains on public services, such as police and ambulance.
• Tourists may be seasonal, and the town may suffer off-season due to the slowdown in income.
• The wrong kind of tourism can bring in a seedy element and increase crime, bars, strip clubs, etc.
• Tourist destinations can often seem “inauthentic,” not really portraying the overall region accurately.
• A popular place may see increased housing prices, as seasonal visitors buy up “summer houses,” reducing the supply of available housing for locals.

https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-pros-and-cons-of-tourism

Japan Anti-Terrorism Law - Tourists May Be Unknowingly Arrested - Complete List of 277 Crimes

Source: https://www.tokyozebra.com/blog/japan-anti-terrorism-law-all-277-acts

Japan passed an Anti-Terror Conspiracy Law on May 29, 2017.  The Law itself consists of 277 acts.   Simply planning or talking about performing one the 277 acts on platforms such as social media, can result in a visit by the police and jail time.  Perhaps even Liking or Sharing something related to one of the 277 crimes can get you arrested.  The idea behind this Law, is it enables Law-enforcement to arrest and prosecute anyone who plans and discusses crimes even if those crimes are never committed. The Japan Federation of Bar Associations and other critics say that some of the 277 acts have no obvious connection to organized crime or terrorism.  This is alarming because in Japan, Authorities can hold a suspect for up to 23 DAYS and can deny the suspect legal representation before the Japan Authorities decide to file charges.  If the suspect is officially charged for the crime, conviction rate in Japan is about 99%.

Unfortunately, there is little documented English information detailing the 277 acts listed under the new Anti-Terror Conspiracy Law.  The purpose of this article is to notify Japan Tourists and Foreign Residents in Japan about the 277 acts so they do not mistakenly violate the Anti-Terror Conspiracy Law.

Note: The authors of this article are not Lawyers nor are Professional Translators.  We simply want to share this information in English so that  Japan Tourists and Foreign Residents in Japan adhere to the the new Anti-Terror Conspiracy Law.  If you feel that some of the translation is incorrect please leave a note in the comment section below and we will update the English translation.  Also, please feel free to discuss your thoughts about the new Anti-Terror Conspiracy Law in the comment section below.

TOP 10 JAPAN ANTI-TERROR CONSPIRACY LAW ACTS THAT CAN GET JAPAN TOURISTS AND JAPANESE FOREIGN RESIDENTS ARRESTED.

These acts don't seem to have anything to do with Anti-Terrorism. Even if you don't commit the crime, but you simply PLAN to do it, you can legally be arrested now. The debate is not whether or not these acts are illegal, because they have always been illegal, but rather the RIGHT Japan Authorities now have to arrest someone if they simply THINK someone is PLANNING to commit one of the 277 listed crimes.

1. Illegally avoiding Customs -Planning to sneak that salami in your suitcase or maybe not report all the cash in your bag?  
2. Copyright Infringement - Do you have pirated songs on your phone or pirated movies on your PC?  
3. Aviation risks - Planning on flying your drone in Tokyo, which could potentially crash into a plane or helicopter? 
4. Damaging important cultural properties - Planning to visit some shrines or temples to maybe to write your name on the wall or hop onto a statue to take a picture?  
5. Usage or Possession of cannabis - Are you from the Netherlands or a part of the United States where cannabis is legal?  Planning to to ask around for it when you arrive in Japan?
6. Prostitution - Receiving compensation - Any girls (or guys) visiting Japan planning to go on that Sex Hustle?
7. Facilitation or provision of a prostitute or sex worker in the arrangement of a sex act with a customer.  - Also known as Pimping.
8. Forest theft in the area of forest reserves - Planning to take some mushrooms or cherry blossoms home with you?  
9. Accessoryship to civil commotion and others - Ever hit the like/share button on Facebook or any other social media platform regarding protests or civil injustice? 
10. Obstruction of business by damaging a computer.  Ever get pissed off by an employer or business and plan on damaging their computers?

Full article in: https://www.tokyozebra.com/blog/japan-anti-terrorism-law-all-277-acts