Equality and Quality of Tertiary Education: A Gift to the Mabalaqueños

Filipinos have deep regard for education and most Filipino parents dream of seeing their children finishing college. The joy of the parents seeing their children getting a College diploma is simply indescribable for besides the prestige, the diploma is viewed as a tool of emancipation from abject poverty.  A diploma on one’s hand goes along with a hope of a better future. As such, many families give their all just to send their children to reputable colleges and universities. Filipinos, indeed, have internalized the ideal of a democratic society where the attainment of good education is a key towards individual and family success.

However, as a rule, families with incomes below poverty line could hardly afford to educate their children beyond the primary education. Middle-class parents have to make tremendous sacrifices in order to provide for their children’s secondary education. And as the academic ladder moves up, the chances of poor families gaining quality higher education degrees become remote.

Some students earned collegiate degrees via scholarships and grants. Others have to work hard to support themselves through. But the sad fact of life remains, that though some students, through remarkable intelligence, finished College via scholarships, not everybody can be accommodated in public or private bursaries. While many students, by sheer diligence and hard work, made it through College as working students, not all can be as lucky. Thus, Tertiary Education is very elusive to many Filipino families.

In the Municipality of Mabalacat, a significant number of families failed to send their children to college because of the high costs of commercialized education. Thus, the Municipality, through the efforts and wisdom of Mayor Marino P. Morales and the Sangguniang Bayan (now presided by Vice Mayor Noel Castro), established Mabalacat College, to give the low and average-income families access to affordable, accessible and high standard collegiate education.

The facade of Mabalacat College. 

Mabalacat College is a gift. It is a gift of hope for families who believed that education can emancipate them from the bondage of poverty. It is a gift of second chance for students who already gave up their dreams of finishing college because of its prohibitive cost. The total matriculation fees in the College do not exceed PhP. 5,000.00 per semester while the cost of quality higher education today ranges from PhP 30,000.00 to PhP 50,000.00 per semester.   

The mushrooming of the local colleges around the country translates to the expansion of access to education among our poor countrymen. But this does not always mean access to quality education. Many local colleges were branded as “diploma mills” because of their very low standards and low performance ratings in government examinations. The prevailing societal outlook is that local colleges deliver poor education. Thus, quality is a major concern.

Mabalacat College addressed the issue of quality ever since its inception. Then as it is now, it aims to become the leading institution in the region in all fields of discipline it offers. As such, it hires only the best and the brightest members of the faculty and staff. Monitoring system of faculty, staff and student performances are in place to assure that quality standards are met. Educational researches are conducted and innovative modes of instructions implemented in order to maximize students learning. Industry-linkages are established to make the instruction responsive to industry needs. The Mabalaqueños are then assured of a quality and desirable brand of education.

Mabalacat College will continue to live up with its mission of providing experiential, innovative and values-enriched learning to prepare the poor but deserving Mabalaqueños in the world of work. The College’s raison d’ etre is to provide every Mabalaqueño family a hope of prosperity. The College, indeed, is an equalizer, not only of educational opportunities, but also of economic, social and political fortunes.