Panganiban, Roman Cyril A.

May 25, 2015

2008 03955

English 10
Change of Ways

The world as we have created is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without
changing our thinking. This was once said by Albert Einstein and I agree with him. If we want to
change the world we must change how we see things. We must be open to new ideas and
accept them if they are for the better. Same goes with the current academic calendar that we
are following and also being followed by more and more universities in our country. We must not
only look at the burden it causes us but let us open our eyes and see the other side. May be the
advantages really outweigh the disadvantages and I am for continuing this shift that we have
now. I believe that the advantages of the calendar shift are enough to let it continue and not
revert to the old one.
The first advantage is internationalization as an effect of the new academic calendar. We
live in the period of globalization. Merriam- Webster dictionary defines this as the tendency of
businesses, technologies, philosophies and others to spread throughout the world, or making
these

worldwide

in

scope

or

application. And

UPs

response

to

globalization

is

internationalization brought to by the calendar shift. This provides flexibility to for our university
and other universities to go with the flow of a fast changing world. Why? Because with the new
schedule we are now in- synch with our neighbors regionally and on a wider aspect, globally. As
a member of the ASEAN community we become more integrated with our ASEAN neighbors
considering that among the members, the Philippines if not the one at least one of the last ones
who does not follow the academic calendar of the ASEAN countries up until we shifted just this
past year. I believe that this change will then lead to improvement in the global landscape
relations of our country in economical, academic, cultural, etc. since the same calendar is
followed by majority of countries globally.

With this, the second advantage is seen and that is recognition. Recognition in the sense
that we can be at par with the other premium universities in the world in terms of the global
academic standards which can improve our ranking in the global landscape and be considered
as one of the premiere universities across the globe. The past situation makes it hard for our
countrys universities to be more recognized because of the difference in curriculum but with the
shift we have now put ourselves to a path of better recognition because we can now mirror the
curriculum followed globally.
With the change in the calendar many opportunities are up for grabs for both the
students and teachers and this is the third advantage. With the shift, students and faculty can
now study, teach, and conduct research abroad more easily because of the same time table as
other countries. Information dissemination will be easier because of this. We can participate in
exchange programs for students and teachers alike. We can have a more diverse classroom
opening us up for more elaborate discussions. We can have foreign faculty that have additional
knowledge to impart to us. Same goes for students and teachers that can study and teach
abroad. There will also be minimal conflicts in schedule for conferences, conventions, etc. both
regionally and globally which will have a positive effect in our education because of the more
active exchange of information among countries. These are opportunities that we must take
advantage of.
This change is a necessary change. It gives as countless opportunities that not only can
make us better as an institution but also better as a country. We must open our eyes and see
that this is really good for us in the long run. I believe that the Philippines as a whole is one or
two steps away from being consistently globally competitive and this shift is one step towards
that goal. The country must go with the flow of other countries and integrate ourselves with
them. Countless research and time has been invested to this shift to be implemented and we
know that we are ready. We have already taken the step to present and represent our university,
other universities and of course our country to the global stage, why back out now?

Sources:
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/03/06/14/pros-and-cons-academic-calendar-shift-ph
http://www.mb.com.ph/benefits-from-the-big-change/
http://www.philippinecollegian.org/shifting-grounds-examining-ups-new-academic-calendar/