MANILA, Philippines – Last April 25, Mapúa Malayan Digital College (MMDC), the premier digital-first, fully online college in the Philippines, launched their newest technology programs for working students in an event held in Common Ground, Makati, Philippines.

President of Mapúa University and Mapúa Malayan Colleges Laguna, the mother school of Mapúa Malayan Digital College, Dr. Dodjie Maestrecampo kicked off the event by painting a picture of why academic institutions have so much opportunity to innovate and help the growth of the IT and business sector. “We are on the verge of introducing something that is innovative. With the economy calling for modern IT specializations that not only bridge the current skills gap but also anticipate the industry’s future needs, we are happy to introduce these new programs. These programs are meticulously designed to address these specialized roles and skills that are critical to the current and future workforce.” He then put emphasis on what careers are made available in the tech-driven world today as reported by the World Economic Forum 2023 Future of Jobs Report. “The rise of roles such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Specialists, Sustainability Specialists, Business Intelligence Analysts, Information Security Analysts, Renewable Energy Engineers and Solar Energy Installation and System Engineers exemplify the critical shift towards the digital driven and sustainable economy.”

Josh Aquino, Head of Public Relations and Communications for Microsoft Philippines, gave an overview of Information Technology and how it is reinventing industries today. “The greatest benefit of technology right now, in the form of generative AI, is lowering the barrier and widening the point of entry for everyone to be able to harness the most powerful technology in the world to do work that we have never been able to do.” Aquino stressed that the biggest challenge to the successful adoption of the use of technology across the board is a lack of skills and not a lack of funding or investments. However, employers are not looking to replace employees with technology.

“Technology skills are the key to the future, and leaders all over the world are looking for that in their hires. The rise of prompt engineering skills on LinkedIn is huge for both the employers’ point of view and applicants’. Leaders are more invested in upskilling their employees to use AI than reducing headcount.”

This is where MMDC steps in to provide opportunities to upskill and gain new knowledge about new technologies and their applications to meet the needs of the industry and contemporary learners.

Engr. Dennis Tablante, MMDC’s Executive Director, then introduced the leveled-up I.T. programs showing how MMDC is forging a path to innovation and bridging the skills gap. “MMDC proudly offers a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology that is tailored to meet demands of today’s rapidly evolving industry. Our fully online BS IT programs are designed to equip students with skills, knowledge, and practical experience needed to thrive in diverse roles within the IT and business sectors. Whether you’re passionate about leveraging technology to drive business success or building cutting-edge software solutions, MDMC’s BS IT programs provide a solid foundation for the journey towards a rewarding and impactful career in IT [and business].”

MMDC now offers two tracks in their BS IT program namely development-focused and business-focused specializations. Tablante noted that the development-focused programs are designed to cultivate a strong emphasis on technical proficiency in building software solutions through a comprehensive curriculum and hands-on project-based learning. On the other hand, business-focused programs are designed for strategic application and implementation of technology in business across various industries. With extensive training, graduates will be prepared for roles such as data analysts, marketing technologists, and tech entrepreneurs.

MMDC creates more opportunities for working students, professionals

In the second half of the program, Bianca Gonzalez, TV personality, host, and former working student, led a discussion regarding the MMDC experience and tackled what makes MMDC, a fully online and digital college, different from other schools. She spoke first with Noel Torregoza, MMDC’s Head of Instructional Systems Design and Academics, and Nico Lim, an MMDC working student currently taking up BS IT with a development-focused specialization in Data Analytics.

Nico enrolled in MMDC last March 2023 to upskill and complement his workforce management career. When asked what made him start with MMDC and how he continues to stay motivated, he simply said, “If you don’t start now, you will think of other reasons to not start at all. I aim to live my life to my full potential. “Once I finish this degree with MMDC, mas magiging proud yung child ko [sakin] tapos syempre, ma-propromote ka din sa work. (my son will be so proud of me and of course, I will have the chance to get promoted at work).” The flexible schedule and progressive learning environment in MMDC also convinced him that this is the right school for a working student like him.

Torregoza then emphasized what makes MMDC different from other schools. Apart from no traditional exams, the Problems, Projects, and Cases (PPC) method gives MMDC students the advantage to experience and apply what they learn in a real work environment. “We put a context, a story, a problem that the students will actually care about. That way, when we give them tasks to perform, they’re more inclined to try and discover for themselves what information they need, and more importantly, get the chance to immediately apply and use that information to complete their tasks.”

Gonzalez added that strengthening such skills is useful in almost any career path given that IT is applied everywhere. “In any industry that we’re in, even media, there's some sort of IT, some sort of data that we can work with. There’s so much to learn and so much to gain from adopting new technologies.”

Joining the second part of the discussion were Tonichi Parekh, VP for Service Delivery at Concentrix, and Jenny Chua, Vice President for Marketing at MMDC.

Chua spoke about the Step Up sa Pangarap movement, which MMDC launched last year. This brought the spotlight to working students and professionals who juggle so many responsibilities yet want to develop relevant skills that will help them reach their fullest potential. She shared, “Working students in the country have been underserved. We’ve always focused on basic education and traditional college models that we believe don't serve the needs of our working students. We need more people in the workforce and the way to produce that, to contribute to the economy and the country’s growth, is to produce more professionals,” she said. “We still need more professionals with the right skills, so that we can develop more businesses using technology to propel us towards the digital transformation that we have been talking about 10 to 15 years ago.”

Parekh then continued the discussion by sharing the partnership of Concentrix and MMDC that caters to their employees who would like to complete their college degree. She said, “We are fully committed to making sure that we will have talents in the future. For us to be able to feed that talent pool, we also need to be engaged and to participate in building the talent that we have. We are tech-led and human-empowered, so we decided to partner with MMDC so that we could also empower our employees, we call them game changers, so that they could also live up to their dream of finishing their school while they are working. It changes the dynamics a little bit when the employer offers to their employees, our game changers, that they can actually study and finish their college degrees.”

The Work and Study program by MMDC and Concentrix was discussed for the first time during the event. This program is designed to give working students a chance to stay in their job at Concentrix while studying. Chua explained, “It allows employees to get a part-time job, maybe 5 to 6 hours a day, and about 3 to 4 subjects at MMDC. So they can really balance their work and studies and allow them to graduate with a degree, plus have a job that sustains their studies.”

Education online with MMDC is also made more accessible in partnership with GCash through GGives. “GGives is a section in GCash where you can apply for loans, including educational loans. It’s a “Study Now, Pay Later” [scheme] designed for working students with up to 24 months to pay,” Chua shared.

More exciting times are ahead as MMDC continues to partner with more organizations and lead more programs so that working students and professionals across the country will have access to better and more opportunities like these.

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