Mapúa prepared for ASEAN integration with English certifications

Mapúa Institute of Technology, having already passed the ABET accreditation to ensure that engineering degrees will be recognized in the ASEAN region, Mapúa chose the TOEIC® tests to certify the communication skills of all its graduates. Mapúa is also the first Higher Education Institution (HEI) in the Philippines to certify all four skills of English, namely: Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is on- track to meet another milestone, namely the creation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by Dec. 31, 2015.

The AEC will transform ASEAN into a region with free movement of goods, services, investment, skilled labor, and freer flow of capital.

The Philippines’ higher education sector is a clear beneficiary of the ASEAN integration as English language learning and certification is highly valued in all ASEAN member countries. Several Asian nations have started to shift national learning policies to include English language learning highlighting all four skills of English namely Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing.

Mapúans entering the workforce with English certifications puts them a step ahead of most graduates in the Philippines.

In ASEAN alone, there have been several government initiatives that recommend or require a TOEIC English certifi as a stepping stone towards employment.

The National Foreign Languages 2020 Project of Vietnam is requiring that all high-school teachers reach a C1 (TOEIC L&R 950, TOEIC S&W 400) standard by 2020. Thailand requires all foreign teachers to attain a score of at least 550 on the TOEIC tests prior to being given a permit. The Ministry of Education in Indonesia currently uses the TOEIC tests to evaluate their teachers. Even Laos, has recently signed a memorandum of understanding to use the TOEIC tests in their education system.

The TOEIC test is the most widely recognized credential for English in the workplace with seven million test takers a year in over 140 countries. With the TOEIC Test, candidates are now able to demonstrate to prospective employers that they have the ability to communicate in English as it is spoken, written and heard in the global workplace.

“We hope that with this endeavor [of signing an agreement with Hopkins] that we had, the English proficiency of all Mapúans will greatly improve. Also, we see that this will attest that Mapúans do not just excel in Mathematics, but in English Communication as well,” said Center for Continuing Education and Special Competencies (CCESC) director Glenn Avendaño.

The results so far have been encouraging as 20 Mapúa students received a perfect TOEIC score. These strong results demonstrate to employers worldwide that Mapúa graduates have the 21st century skills and global outlook needed to compete in today’s international workplace.