MU merges various departments under School of Education and Basic Studies

Article by: Shaina Camille F. Macaranas

Graphics by: John Aaron U. Marasigan

Mapúa University (MU) has merged the departments of Physics, Math, PE and Athletics, Liberal Arts, and drawing courses into one, named the School of Education and Basic Studies, which has formally taken into effect last April 1.

At the helm of this new department is its dean, Dr. Edward Jay Quinto. In an interview with The New Builder, Dr. Quinto shared that MU decided to merge this department to streamline the services and the processes that the different departments offer to the freshman as well as to the second year students.

From the interview, the dean stated, “…putting together the School of Education and Basic Studies is to first in terms of foundational courses make sure that we are able to deliver the promise of a supportive and systematic delivery of foundational courses among our freshmen and also our sophomore years.” 

Additionally, Dr. Quinto added that they want to strengthen their brand for providing internationally recognized education. This new department will be based on both campuses, Intramuros and Makati, but primarily, the office will be at Intramuros.

The courses under the Basic Studies part of the department are from the four aforementioned departments (Physics, Math, PE and Athletics, Liberal Arts) plus the drawing courses formerly under the School of Media Studies. In Dr. Quinto’s words, “…there isn't anymore any department that stands independent and then reports directly to the Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs. So in short, you now have all schools housing all other departments under them university-wide.” Under the education part of the school, there will be an English Language Center, and the Center for Teaching and Learning, Outcome Based Education.

There will also be two STEM-related minor programs that will be handled by the new department as well. This minor program can help students from Information Technology, Computer Science, and Physics be able to take a licensure exam for teaching. Furthermore, the new department will revive the Bachelor of Science in Educational Technology that was previously under the defunct School of Social Sciences and Education. As for the new programs, Dr. Quinto briefly mentioned that offering a Bachelor’s degree for education is not possible at this time due to a moratorium established by the Commission on Higher Education. However, it is one of the goals in the future of the new department.

When asked about significant changes in the curriculum, Dr. Quinto disclosed that the changes will range from the name of the courses and the quality of the said courses. Furthermore, they are in the planning stage of integrating the use of AI and other advanced technologies into the students’ curriculum. Dr. Quinto ensured that this would help the students boost their employability in the future to achieve their dream careers.

Along with the goal of  leaving no students left behind in their studies in terms of availability, access, and support, Dr. Quinto also hopes to improve Mapúans’ experience in their first year – whereas they feel prepared for any board exams in the future, “So I want to be able to challenge the departments under the School of Education and Basic Studies to really up their game in terms of preparing , for example, our students who are enrolled in board exam programs so that they may be able to really get that feel of them being prepared for the board exam as early as their freshman year and we want to see the product of that or the impact of that to translate in actual numbers and by numbers.” 

As the Dean of the new department, Dr. Quinto hopes that he will be able to ultimately deliver well in this new role. “I hope to be able to deliver it out. I also hope that the school will be a benchmark for excellence in education in the future.”