PHINMA Education @ 15: Limitless

In 2013, high school student Leonardo Sardan Jr. was facing an uphill battle. Having been homeless and separated from his siblings for several years, his prospects were far from bright. “It was never an easy experience for me. I had to leave all my things in the classroom and brought only the clothes I needed for the next day. I studied and slept in the Freedom Park circle, under the lamppost,” he recalls.

But fate had other things in store for Leo. His high school headteacher introduced him to Ellen Cuenca of PHINMA AU. The two teachers helped him apply for the PHINMA Presidential Scholarship program. The program is just one of several designed to provide discounts and allowances to students who need it the most. Receiving the scholarship was his gateway to a college education.

“I knew a lot of Presidential Scholars during my time,” he shares. “In fact, we became friends as we shared our stories to one another. Our stories are somewhat similar.” Indeed, Leo is just one of the thousands of PHINMAEd scholars whose experiences paint a bigger picture of the challenges faced by underprivileged youth in the country. “These are challenges, big and small, that PHINMAEd has confronted head on, everyday, for 15 years,” says founder and President, Dr. Dr. Chito B. Salazar.

Growth and improvement was years in the making 

Since acquiring PHINMA AU in 2004, PHINMAEd’s population has reached 74,187 students, making it among the largest school networks in the country. According to Sir Chito, 44% of these students are scholars. “We have grown to include six schools and three branch campuses in the country alone. We also offer over 110 programs covering the entire private education chain,” he adds. For Chief Finance Officer Daisy Montinola, it is a welcome surprise.

“We didn’t expect it for many years. Since I joined in 2008, and for about four years after, we only had steady growth. Steady enrollment. There was no significant growth until we found a formula aligned with our market, which is our scholarship discount,” she shares. And PHINMAEd’s value for money proposition for students has made a difference beyond just growing enrollment rates.

One clear improvement is PHINMAEd’s dramatic increase in board passing rates. When PHINMA UPang was acquired 10 years ago, the passing rate for Nursing was 52%. But in June 2019, PHINMA UPang gained a passing rate of 85.53%, allowing it to rank ninth nationally. PHINMAEd’s overall passing rate for Nursing is now 90.91%. Four schools, namely, SWU PHINMA, PHINMA UI, PHINMA COC, and PHINMA AU garnered a 100% passing rate for first-time takers.

“We did a lot of trial and error to learn how to be effective in our operations, in how we do things,” Daisy reflects. “It didn’t happen overnight. It took years of learning from past mistakes to make us grow.” Over the past fifteen years, PHINMAEd produced 93 board topnotchers and 22,287 licensed professional graduates. Employability is up too, from 75% several years ago to 83% today. Clearly, quality education doesn’t have to be expensive. It does, however, need to be a little unconventional.

New solutions to old problems require empathy

“We study the best practices of institutions that are also trying to educate underprivileged students,” explains Chief Academics Officer Francis Larios. Like many schools, PHINMAEd’s challenge is to offer programs that help our students learn in-demand skills in an active learning environment. But because of its target market of low-income, first-generation students, unique strategies are used to help them succeed.

Among these strategies are the Student Success Program (SSP), Success Ladder, and home visits at the tertiary level. “These are not usually done in schools in the Philippines,” Francis notes. “Many of the things we’ve achieved are because of the teachers and employees on the ground.” Dean Lito Dabalos of Cagayan de Oro College leads a team of these staff members in making sure interventions are consistently carried out.

“SSP, Success Ladder and home visits are really worth supporting to develop positive mindset among our students to stay with us. [For example], home visits are a sincere expression of how we care about our clients — students, parents, and the community in general,” Lito explains. “These programs to me are considered vital ingredients in producing favorable students’ retention and in building a good culture of “I belong” among PHINMAEd students.”

It’s not just about the Philippines anymore

In 2016, PHINMAEd decided to go further. “It began with the realization that we now had the workings of a tertiary system that could properly serve the poor, and there weren’t a lot of groups in this space,” says Business Development Manager Esther Galvez. “We had a growing business here in the Philippines, and the entry of bigger players into provincial areas made for a good business case to explore branching out.”

Similarities in terms of educational access made Southeast Asia a natural choice for expansion. International ventures began with the PHINMA Training Center (PTC) in Yangon, Myanmar. In partnership with Victoria Hospital, it offers courses such as Child Caregiving and Special Care Assistance. True to its mission, PHINMAEd gave discounts to private hospital employees and their dependents and launched a scholarship program for underprivileged students.

This year, PHINMAEd’s journey to provide accessible education led to its second international milestone. Through PT Ind Phil Management (IPM) Indonesia, it now manages a tertiary institution in Karawang, Indonesia. “Our model was built in one country and so to translate that as we start out, and figure out how it morphs into something each country can benefit from, is an exciting, albeit difficult challenge,” Esther adds.

What else is in store for PHINMAEd? For many staff members, there’s a world left to discover. “Despite the many accomplishments of PHINMAEd, it still feels like this is just the beginning,” says Academics Manager Nigel Cabison. “I’m looking forward to seeing how PHINMAEd will revolutionize how education is done for underprivileged students. Within the next couple of years, the network will grow bigger with schools in three, or even four, countries.”

Working to make lives better never stops

At 15 years, PHINMAEd has more than 1,400 faculty and staff supporting a student population more than 74 thousand strong. But the journey is not about these numbers. It’s about Sir Chito, Daisy, Francis, Esther, and Nigel, who have dedicated decades of their lives to making sure underprivileged youth can succeed. It’s about Lito, Ellen, and thousands of teachers whose work will echo across generations. It’s about former Presidential Scholar Leo, now Sir Leo, a cum laude graduate and senior high school teacher in his alma mater.

“In my two and a half years of experience as a teacher, I heard different stories from my students. I see myself in a lot of them, actually,” Sir Leo reflects. “I share my experiences with them, especially in my SSP classes. I tell them to strive hard not just for themselves but also for the people, especially their parents, who never get tired of supporting them. If they stay positive, good things and good people will be drawn to them, just like what PHINMA AU did for me.”

Challenges abound in educating underprivileged youth. But for every roadblock, a new opportunity arises. PHINMAEd at 15 is still learning, but getting better every step of the way. It remains fearless in seeking solutions and implementing them without burdening the students. And no matter how much it grows, it always goes back full circle — to making lives better through education. As Sir Leo says, “We are here not just to work and survive. We are here to help people. We are here to inspire and make a difference.”

 

But fate had other things in store for Leo. His high school headteacher introduced him to Ellen Cuenca of PHINMA AU. The two teachers helped him apply for the PHINMA Presidential Scholarship program. The program is just one of several designed to provide discounts and allowances to students who need it the most. Receiving the scholarship was his gateway to a college education.

“I knew a lot of Presidential Scholars during my time,” he shares. “In fact, we became friends as we shared our stories to one another. Our stories are somewhat similar.” Indeed, Leo is just one of the thousands of PHINMAEd scholars whose experiences paint a bigger picture of the challenges faced by underprivileged youth in the country. “These are challenges, big and small, that PHINMAEd has confronted head on, everyday, for 15 years,” says founder and President, Dr. Dr. Chito B. Salazar.