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UP President Jimenez featured in MQA Presidents’ Forum

| Written by Percy Dahe

UP President Angelo Jimenez shares UP’s established and ongoing programs and initiatives geared toward the discussion on learning without limits.
Screenshot from the MQA Presidents’ Forum video on MQA’s official Facebook page. (Aug. 12, 2026)

 

“The modern university today no longer has the monopoly of the learning function.”

 

University of the Philippines President Angelo Jimenez said this during the Malaysian Qualifications Agency Presidents’ Forum (Universities), themed, Leading Quality Assurance for a Future-Ready and Integrated ASEAN Higher Education, and held Aug. 12 at the Sama-Sama Hotel Kuala Lumpur International Airport. 

 

“There’s so many others online that the learner can access to gain knowledge on general areas,” he expounded during the discussion on UP’s take on learning without limits. “The fast rate of technological change is the defining condition of the modern world today.”

 

MQA Presidents’ Forum is an exclusive gathering of distinguished university leaders, policymakers, and higher education experts to exchange perspectives, strengthen strategic collaboration, and shape the future of quality higher education.
Screenshot from the MQA Presidents’ Forum’s official animated poster on MQA’s official Facebook page. (Aug. 12, 2026)

 

Jimenez also talked about the UP Open University’s microcredentialing courses and its aggregation in continuing education programs, as well as the Open Distance and e-Learning, into the discussion, saying that these are for the students who cannot join the university on a regular basis due to financial reasons, family circumstance, and geographic distance. “We have bridging programs for the students particularly on language efficiency, reading comprehension, and math and science to ensure that they succeed,” he said. 

 

Toward the end, Jimenez was asked about the single most important change that would prove learning truly has no limit. He quoted Mark Weiser’s “The Computer for the 21st Century” in response: “The most profound technology is one that disappears. One that weaves itself into the fabric of everyday life. And then becomes indistinguishable from it.” And added, “The universities must learn humility to know that they no longer have the monopoly of learning.”

 

The distinguished higher education leaders, beginning second from left: Nanyang Technological University President’s Chair Professor of Information System and Vice President for Lifelong Learning and Alumni Engagement Boh Wai Fong; University of the Philippines President Angelo Jimenez; and Higher Education Learning Philosophy Vice Chancellor Andy Liew. With them is the Director of the Accreditation Division (Arts and Humanities) MQA Madam Norasikin Yahya (leftmost), who moderated the discussion.
Screenshot from the MQA Presidents’ Forum video on MQA’s official Facebook page. (Aug. 12, 2026)

 

According to its official Facebook page, MQA Presidents’ Forum is an exclusive gathering of distinguished university leaders, policymakers, and higher education experts from across ASEAN and beyond to exchange perspectives, strengthen strategic collaboration, and shape the future of quality higher education.

 

The inaugural forum aimed to strengthen regional dialogue and collaboration in higher education across Southeast Asia, focusing on digital transformation, innovation, lifelong learning, microcredentials, and quality assurance.

 

Full video may be viewed here.