Loyola Heights, Quezon City — British Columbia’s Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills (PSFS) Minister, Selina Robinson, recently visited Miriam College (MC) to explore opportunities between the college and the Canadian province and to express support for the college’s ongoing collaboration with Camosun, one of British Columbia’s top public colleges. The PSFS provides leadership and direction for higher education and skills training systems in British Columbia as well as labor market information and programs.
In November 2022, MC Alviera, Miriam College’s third campus in Porac, Pampanga, and Camosun College sealed its partnership for reciprocal cluster programs on business, health & human services, and technology that will allow students of both campuses to pursue degrees from either school.
Welcoming Minister Robinson was Miriam College President, Amb. Laura Quiambao-Del Rosario, who gave a brief background of the school, its programs, and its co-educational campuses expansions in Laguna and Pampanga. She also emphasized that the college, particularly its Loyola campus, is one of few remaining women’s colleges in the country that is committed to continue nurturing women’s education while bringing its brand of education to both boys and girls in its two other campuses outside of Manila, MC Nuvali and MC Alviera.
Amb. Quiambao-Del Rosario was accompanied by Miriam College Alviera’s Assistant to the President, Dr. Trixie Marie Sison along with the college’s Business Cluster and Human & Health Services Cluster administrators, Office of Institutional Partnerships and Resource Mobilization head Carol Ui, and Marketing and Communications Coordinator Lynda Garcia.
In her message, Minister Robinson said she looks forward to how Miriam College, particularly MC Alviera’s partnership with Camosun, will bring out opportunities and innovations in terms of providing skills and harnessing talents for the next generation especially in the field of Early Childhood Education. “I look forward to what the future might bring. I really want to see how this (collaboration) turns out … and see if it can be a model on how to deliver programs where the Philippines and BC benefits,” she said.
Currently, Miriam College Alviera and Camosun offer the following international programs: Miriam International Stream (MIS) program, which allows future graduates of Miriam College Alviera to pursue a post graduate degree and complete their academic credentials at Camosun College; Miriam and Camosun International Stream (MCIS) or the 2 + 2 program, which, through earned credits, allows students of both schools to continue the remaining two years of their bachelor’s degree at either school and qualify for a Post Graduate Work Permit of up to 3 years; and Student Exchange Program which allows MC Alviera and Camosun College students to attend one or two semesters at the host school, waiving local tuition.
Miriam College Alviera is set to open its Higher Education Programs in September this year. Among the courses it is offering are Bachelor of Design in Creative Industries, Bachelor of Science Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and Bachelor of Early Childhood Education and TVET Certificate in Digital Animation. Most of these courses are aligned with Camosun College’s extensive offerings, giving MC Alviera students a promising path on which to continue and pursue higher studies in Canada.
The Miriam and Camosun partnership is the first of its kind between a Philippine and a Canadian college.
Along with the BC delegate comprised of PSFS Deputy Minister Bobbi Plecas, Senior Ministerial Assistant Eric Peters, and Council for International Education Executive Director, Dr. Randall Martin, Minister Robinson will also meet with other key agencies and educational institutions in the Philippines to strengthen partnerships between BC and the Philippines’ education sectors and support programs in promotion of international employment credentials and international education.