Education in Global Perspective

The present era is marked by transformational dynamism, characterized by competitiveness in many fields of endeavor. Countries, being the prime movers of dynamism, have metamorphosed to face the challenges, which embody the latest trend in the 21st century – globalization. In a simple meaning, globalization refers to the movement of people, money, goods and services, and information across the countries. Evidently, it is a modern drift of challenges that instigate the countries mobilize themselves to emerge globally competitive.

Education, being the vital molder of human resources of the country, has considered the obtaining trend of the modern world. It has defined its goals and objective covering not only the country’s realm but also the international roads of relationship with other countries. Being the influential social institution to attend to such global challenge, it has enriched its curricula, imperative to hasten the improvement of knowledge and skills of the human resources in the country thereby emerging competitive in the international arena. Academic courses, geared towards the thrusts, have proliferated out in many educational institutions in the country to ensure the employability of graduates in the foreign labor markets. Consequently, professions in demand abroad have always been the tracks traversed by many students. Truly, the trend has influenced the plunge of the educational system and the people in the country.

However, the response to globalization has created schism of acceptance in the academic communities in the country. It has caused a shift to courses in demand abroad and not locally. Many graduates flock over the chance to work abroad every year. They spend a plethora of money just to land in a good job in foreign countries, which usually promise them a multiple –folds of returns – a greener pasture at that — to the family in the country. As a result, the country seems to run out of human resources who, ideally, can propel the changes that our country has long been dreaming of. On account of this scenario, our education system loses its noble vision of empowering the bulk of population in the country and equipping them with skills and knowledge contributory to the country’s development in this modern world.

As far as the Philippine setting is concerned, the educational system must promote courses that will create the professions imperative for the country’s growth and development. Since our country is at its comparative advantage in the field of agriculture, there must be an empowerment of agriculture-related courses in the public and private educational institutions. Let us uphold our conviction that agriculture is the backbone of our fluctuating economy. Thus, we need agriculturists to transform our idle lands to productive resources. Moreover, other professions may similarly uplift the country’s status at our own advantage, provided that these are exercised primordially within the domain. Apparently, the country also needs competitive teachers, who usually contribute to brain drain, to transform the human resources to the labor force, which will fuel up the mechanism of progress in its multidimensional existence. Hence, let us apply this theory of comparative advantage in making our country strong to occupy a space in the international community. With strong country nourished by collaborative efforts from the empowered human capital, we are investing in a sustainable future amidst the global challenges.