The Asian International Mobility for Students (AIMS) Programme is SEAMEO RIHED’s flagship regional initiative to support the mobility of students and enhance cooperation in higher education among countries in Asia. In preparation for the 16th Annual Review Meeting, International Relations Officers and AIMS Focal Persons of the fourteen selected Philippine Universities converged at St. Paul University Philippines, Tuguegarao City on October 24-27, 2022. The annual event spearheaded by the Commission on Higher Education – International Affairs Service (CHED-IAS) discusses the strengths and gaps on the implementation of AIMS as well as to plan immediate actions to address these gaps and to sustain the program.
Invited speakers Atty. Lily Freida Milla, CESO IV, Director IV (OIC Deputy Executive Director and IAS Director, CHED), Dr. Ethel Agnes Valenzuela (Director, SEAMEO Secretariat), and Dr. Christine Ferrer (Director, External Linkages and International Affairs, Tarlac Agricultural University) conveyed current practices and opportunities on student mobility both macro and micro levels across Asia specifically in the ASEAN Region. They also nudged the participants on their roles as frontiers of internationalization among Philippine Higher Education Institutions.
Atty. Christian Rivero, CESO IV (Director, CHED Higher Education Development Fund) and Dr. Marivic Iriberri (Director, CHED Office of Student Development Services) also gave their inputs as to how their offices can better assist the universities in the implementation and sustainability of the program. Moreover, Atty. Marco Cicero Domingo (OIC Director, CHED Region 2) and Sister Merceditas Ang (President, SPUP) delivered their welcome messages with high hopes for the continuing success of student international mobility programs in the Philippines.
This year’s review meeting, in partnership with CHED Region 2, included various workshop sessions that prodded the participants to share their university strengths and accomplishments pertaining to mobility, both inbound and outbound while program sustainability plans were presented as an output of the meeting. The group also crafted the Philippines’ country report for the AIMS Review Meeting in Seoul, South Korea.
The members of AIMS Ph are Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU), Batangas State University (BatSU), Central Bicol State University of Agriculture (CBSUA), Central Luzon State University (CLSU), Central Mindanao University (CMU), De La Salle University (DLSU), Lyceum of the Philippines University – Batangas (LPU), Mapua University (Mapua U), St. Louis University – Baguio (SLU), St. Paul University Philippines (SPUP), University of Mindanao (UM), University of Santo Tomas (UST), University of St. La Salle – Bacolod (USLS), and University of the Philippines (UP).
