Changing mindsets for quality and relevance in local universities

In my last column, I described how Pangasinan Polytechnic College (PPC) exemplifies how LUCs should be established.

- POPOY DE VERA

I explained how a strategic and forward-looking governor, an experienced academic leader and supportive faculty and staff can connect technical-vocational and higher education programs, meet CHED standards and institutionalize university linkages within two years of its founding.

This time, I will use Quezon City University as an example of how a local university that was overlooked can be revived and eventually become a leader.

The Quezon City Polytechnic University (QCPU) was established shortly after the passage of the Local Government Code of 1991, which granted significant powers and resources to local governments. In 1994, the Quezon City government founded QCPU, modeled after a state university but focused on technical and vocational courses. Its appointed officials were not highly credentialed academics but government bureaucrats who assumed their positions after retirement.

Many faculty members were hired as rewards for political patronage. A former Cabinet secretary who served as QCPU president did not even believe that the university should be under the CHED.

I became aware of these harsh realities when I interacted with mayor Herbert Bautista and his officials during my tenure as UP vice president for Public Affairs in 2011, and later as CHED commissioner in 2016.