Ayala, Arellano University team up on junior college program

THE AYALA group has teamed up with Arellano University to offer a junior college program, thereby expanding its participation in a sector seen as vital for nation-building.

In a press statement on Friday, Ayala Education said it had entered into a partnership with Arellano to offer the LINC@Arellano junior college program (LINC@Arellano) starting this school year at Arellano’s Pasig campus.

LINC@Arellano is open to all Grade 10 graduates and is an early implementation of the Department of Education’s K to 12 Senior High School Program.

LINC stands for Learning with Industry Collaboration.
 
Ayala Education, a unit of Ayala Corp., said it had sought a partnership with a “progressive and recognized” leader in the academe such as Arellano, which was founded in 1938 and is one of the largest universities in the country with over 30,000 students.
 
LINC@Arellano will officially be launched this February 24, 2015 at the Arellano Pasig campus.

“The global demand for Filipino talent is proof that one of the Philippines’ greatest resources is its people. Ayala believes that investment in education is key to securing national competitiveness, and every Filipino’s future. Our vision is to provide affordable, world-quality education that can allow every student to achieve his or her full potential,” Ayala Corp. president and chief operating officer Fernando Zobel de Ayala said in a press statement.

LINC is the Ayala conglomerate’s second venture into education. The group earlier teamed up with the UK-based Pearson, the world’s largest education provider, to roll out starting last year a chain of private high schools in Metro Manila under the new brand Affordable Private Education Center (APEC) Inc.

Ayala said it started investing in education after recognizing the large demand for quality Filipino talent in the services sector, which comprises 54 percent of all jobs available in the country and 76 percent of all new jobs created in the last decade.
 
Ayala Education vision is to “deliver high quality, affordable education that can significantly enhance the career potential of students, by equipping them with real-world skills through programs designed in close partnership with prospective employers.”

In line with this new investment thrust towards education, Ayala Education was formed this year as a parent company for APEC and LINC.