On books and universities

The proposed TRAIN and TRABAHO bills which seek to increase taxes and remove incentives on specific goods and services have become controversial. As usual, there were countless House and Senate hearings to allow interested parties to present their position papers.

Usually position papers are dry, boring reading even if they are accompanied by power points. But an organization called the PEN presented a position paper to  Congress to spare the tax exemption from repeal by the “TRABAHO” bill. The paper is a powerful argument. But aside from that, it is a literary masterpiece that unfortunately very few of our politicians and even journalists have  been able to fully appreciate. I cannot reprint the entire PEN statement. But here are excerpts from the paper:

“In terms of educating the masses through reading, in terms of developing the reading culture of the nation, the taxes the government plans to levy and collect will be nothing but destructive. We will be a nation that subscribes to the underdevelopment in every sense of the word.

We, the Philippine PEN Center as member of the PEN International, the world association of writers, editors and translators in all branches and classes  of literature, journalism, history, biography, science and philosophy are bound by the PEN charter to carry out the following: 1) Promote and maintain friendship and intellectual cooperation among writers and readers in all countries in the interests of literature, freedom of expression, and international goodwill; and 2) Enable the unhampered transmission of thought and knowledge within and among nations.

We are writers and readers molded by centuries of books that have come our way. We are writers and readers of books that make genuine education possible in and out of the classrooms. We are writers and readers of books, the common currency by which we trade ideas and stories, engage truth, and push the limits of our imagination. Books preserve and enrich culture; books move science forward. Books invigorate our life of the mind and heart, and raise the level of our humanity.

The PEN position paper also states: “ Books, despite technological developments are still the most effective and economical tools in growing education, disseminating information, and preserving and enriching the nation’s cultural heritage.... Our students who are the largest users of books will be the poorer, and will not be, and cannot be, our writers and readers of the future.”

I remember I once wrote about a book The Written World: The Power of Stories to Shape People, History and Civilization by Martin Puchner.  In his book, Puchner leads us on a remarkable journey through time and around the globe to reveal the powerful role stories and literature have played in creating the world we have today.  Puchner introduces his readers to numerous visionaries and authors as he explores 16 foundational texts selected from more than 4,000 years of world literature and reveals how writing has inspired the rise and fall of empires and nations, the spark of philosophical and political ideas, and the birth of religious beliefs. Indeed literature has touched the lives of generations and changed the course of history. Indeed, in his book, Puchner shows how literature turned our planet into the written world.

World ranking of universities

Recently, the buzz in the academic world was the public release of the 2019 world university ranking by Times Higher Education. It is important to first understand that there are two  known institutions that conduct annual ranking of universities. These are the Times Higher Education and the QS World University Ranking – both based in London.

These two institutions were actually one group. Between 2004 and 2009, QS produced the rankings in partnership with the Times Higher Education (THE). In  2009, Times Higher Education announced they would produce their own rankings in partnership with Thomson Reuters. According to THE, there was a perceived weakness in the methodology of QS. It was then being criticized for its overreliance on subjective indicators and reputation surveys. THE also cited what it felt was a perceived favoritism in the QS methodology for science over the humanities.

The QS methodology took into account five factors in its ranking: Academic peer review based on an internal global academic survey (40%); faculty/student ratio (20%); citations per faculty (20%); employer reputation (10%); international student ratio (5%); and, international staff ratio (5%). The most controversial part of the methodology is the academic peer review which uses a combination of purchased mailing lists and applications and suggestions.

The Times Higher Education ranking is based on 13 performance indicators grouped into five areas: Teaching (the learning environment) 30%; Research (volume, income, reputation) 30%; Citations (research influence) 30%; International outlook (staff, students, research) 7.5%; and, Industry income (knowledge transfer) 2.5%.

The two methodologies have sometimes resulted in different rankings. If I remember correctly, the 2018 QS University ranking had four Philippine universities – University of the Philippines, Ateneo de Manila, De La Salle University and the University of Sto. Tomas. In the Times Higher Education  2019 rankings, there were only two Philippine universities – University of the Philippines and De La Salle University.

As an indicator that Philippine universities have a long way to go, the 2019 THE university rankings included four from Indonesia, 11 from Malaysia and 12 from Thailand. There were only two universities from Singapore; but, National University of Singapore was ranked No. 23 and Nanyang University was ranked No. 51 in the world.

In a world that will increasingly be dominated by knowledge-based industries, we need to catch up in terms of quality tertiary education if we want future generations of Filipinos to keep up with our neighbours and the rest of the world.

Creative writing classes for kids and teens

Young Writers’ Hangout on Oct. 6 and 13 (1:30 pm-3 pm; stand-alone sessions) at Fully Booked BGC.  For details and registration, email [email protected].

E-mail: [email protected]