How universities can help develop Southeast Asia

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Part of Panorama

Title: How universities can help develop Southeast Asia
Creator: Sinco, Vicente G.
Language: English
Year: 1960
Subject: Universities and colleges -- Southeast Asia.
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Fulltext: VOL. XII____________ MANILA. PHILIPPINES______________ No. 12 How Can Helf Ttivdof SouikM By Vicente G. Sinco President University of the Philippines On AN OCCASION such as this it seems to me timely and appropriate to ask ourselves in what way a university, such as yours and mine, may be of maximum use and service to our common region of the Southeast Asian communities. To be able to suggest any kind of answer to this question, an answer that may have any me rit and validity, we should not proceed without first recalling the basic nature and the speci fic purpose of a university. We should ever remind ourselves that a true university is not a social club, nor a political par ty, nor a business organization, nor a center for sectarian or ra cial propaganda. It is primarily an intellectual center, a commu nity of men and women seeking knowledge through the instru mentalities and processes of art, philosophy, and science. It pursues its career not to satisfy mere idle curiosity, nor to fill the empty hours of those who can afford to lead a life of ease and luxury, but rather to devel op the mind and the spirit of man so that he may under stand himself and his environ ment, improve his capacity to meet the problems of life, and make himself capable of render ing useful service to his commu nity and to human race. Thus we come to a university to pre pare ourselves for service; for the ultimate purpose of a uni versity is human service. Any departure from that purpose is a corruption of the idea of a university. The universities in Southeast Asia are mostly young institu tions when we place them side by side with the centers of high er learning in Europe. Perhaps the oldest university in this re gion of ours is the University of Santo Tomas in Manila which was founded by Catholic priests of the Dominican Order in the year 1611. But since the latter part of the last century and dur ing the present century other universities have been estab lished in different countries in Southeast Asia and their in fluence upon the education of the people has been steadily in creasing. The benefits they con fer on the individual and the group have been varied in di rection, quality, and extent The effectiveness of their perform ance and their academic stand ards doubtless account for such variations. But in addition to these causes, there are other factors affecting their program and work over which they could exercise but slight control. These factors proceed from the social, economic and political atmosphere of the nation where each one of these universities is situated. This is naturally an unavoidable condition because the school and the university alone and by themselves do not exactly constitute an all-power ful agency that can determine the social temper and mold the national character. Nevertheless, education is a major social force. To a certain extent it has the capacity to de velop characteristics and traits which a nation particularly and passionately desires. Therefore the social preferences and the established character of a peo ple give color and shape to its. nature, aim, and direction. A democratic society is likely to produce a system of education that gives emphasis on the de velopment of individual initia tive and individual freedom. An aristocratic society may be ex pected to encourage a system of higher education designed to produce a ruling class. A high ly materialistic society pro motes an educational system directed towards the enhance ment of purely economic ends, technical efficiency and physic al strength. The program of higher educa tion and the mission of a uni versity to advance the frontiers of learning impose on the uni versity the responsibility of keeping the educational system of the country ever dynamic and ever watchful of new and progressive ideas and ever ready 4 Panorama to try to assimilate, and to dis seminate them. The successful accomplishment of this task re quires a condition in which the free play of the university, on the one hand, and the social or ganization as well as the politi cal system, on the other, is not only made possible but is ac tually encouraged as interacting forces. We are fortunate... that we live in an age of expansion of democratic ideas, a growing ap preciation of democratic prac tices, and a gradual understand ing of the basic advantages of a democratic social and political system. It is true that this sys tem today is far from being Uto pian. It is likewise true that actual democratic procedures in the political field are still in their early stages in many coun tries in Asia and Africa today were they are often disregard ed as they clash with ancient tribal practices or adverse tra ditional customs. One significant thing, however, cannot escape our attention, and that is the growing sentiment against any attempt to throw a monkey wrench on the gear wheels of the machinery of democracy even in the newly independent nations that have arisen in the last few years. This sentiment of disapproval against any ac tion that seeks to thwart or to suppress democratic practices is observable even in the older independent nations where the spirit of authorita rianism and reaction now and then gains adherence from ambitious elements aspiring for special privileges and undue advantages. The role of a mo dern university is to develop insistently those ideas which encourage the creation of social conditions conducive to a deep understanding of the values of democracy. This is the challenge to the universities in Southeast Asia. With this statement, it is not meant that European and Am erican universities cannot con tribute much towards this end for this part of the world. They have done so and are still doing it. In many ways learn ing and education are univer sal in their character and Western universities have been centers of democratic ideas. /^UT EVERY COUNTRY and every region have their special problems, conditions, and needs arising from particu lar features of their histories, their customs, their traditions, their social outlook, and their ways of living. For these rea sons, every university in South east Asia should feel as its special obligation to perform those distinctive services which no university in any other part of the world with a different social environment and directly serving peoples with distinct December 1960 5 needs and idiosyncracies may be able to perform with a large measure of interest, enthusiasm, and familiarity. These considerations should convince us of the error or the inadequacy of indiscriminately importing the educational prac tices of foreign countries in their entirety. We should real ize the nearsightedness of a policy that merely copies the pattern of Western educational systems and their specific met hods and procedures. The wiser policy to follow, in my opinion, is to adjust the pattern, the process, and the practice of our universities to the distinctive character of each of the coun tries in Southeast Asia, taking into account our own conditions and our immediate need for mutual understanding and co operation. An imitation of Harvard in the Ryukyhs, of Columbia in the Philippines, of Sorbonne in Vietnam, of Cambridge in Ma laya, of Oxford in Thailand, of Leyden in Indonesia might im press thoughtless people and superficial scholars who think of universities not in terms of agencies for the development of their geographical environ ment and the cultivation of the national ethos but as institu tions isolated from the society in which they are physically located. But a university is in capable of rendering usefulness to the nation if it stands apart, psychologically, spiritually, and socially, as an ivory tower. The learning a university pursues, the scientific ideas it produces, the researches it undertakes must be useful to the place and the people where it is located, otherwise the university will be a mere luxury or a costly toy. It should be able to draw from the cultural assets of the na tion, to develop them to the highest degree of excellence, and to offer them as its dis tinctive contribution for the en richment of human knowledge. In expressing these views, it is not suggested that a univer sity in Southeast Asia should take pains to promote the spirit of ultranationalism. A univer sity never can be an ultra-na tionalist; for if it works toward that end it is bound to die as a university. It will be no more than a center of bigotry, en couraging pettiness of spirit, promoting emotional prejudices, and working against the very purpose and aim of a higher institution of learning. On the other hand, a univer sity in this part of the world cannot afford to neglect the study of the great philosophical thoughts of China, India, and other Asian countries while studying the basic ideas of the West. It cannot afford to dis regard the need for a deeper acquaintance with the lang 6 Panorama uages, the histories, the cultures of the countries in Southeast Asia and other parts of Asia. Such omission is not only wrong but in a sense culturally perfidious. But again, in our desire to develop what is dis tinctively our own culture, it would be equally wrong to turn our minds away from the great ideas of the advanced societies of the world. That would be fatal. Most of Southeast Asia lies in what has been described as the underdeveloped areas of the world. The idea of an un derdeveloped country is that of a land that has not exper ienced a satisfactory measure of industrial development and an advanced system of agricul ture; and its people do not en joy a satisfactory standard of living. In a general way, an underdeveloped country is a materially poor country, eco nomically backward, and educa tionally unprogressiv.e. These are the factors tnat economic thinkers and Western leaders consider as signs and charac teristics of underdevelopment. Perhaps we might question the use of some of these criteria for classifying a country as un derdeveloped. At any rate, the degree of development which a people should attain is not easy to define in absolute terms. For each nation has its condi tions by which to determine the attainment of the good life, the life of peace, happiness, material welfare, and spiritual satisfaction. It is the university of the country that should iden tify the proper standards of development and should devote its energies to helping the peo ple attain the proper conditions of progress and general well being. '-7’here is no institution bet ter than the university to develop men and women capa ble of understanding the use of science and technology in the solution of the agricultural, tfie industrial, and other economic problems of the country. Pov erty is a normal condition in many places in Southeast Asia. Nowhere is the statement that the poor is always with us more applicable than among peoples in this part of the world. This is a serious problem among us. It is not merely economic in its effects but also social and political. To abolish poverty altogether is well-nigh impos sible. Its causes are not con fined to economic and social conditions but are also trace able to personal and individual habits and conditions. But it is certainly within the realm of possibility to abolish a general condition of abject poverty. Mass unemployment, especially the involuntary kind, is primar ily a problem that addresses itself to social leadership, ecoDecember I960 7 norpic enterprise and political statemanship. But these instru ments of amelioration could acquire a great degree of effec tiveness with the aid of the education which universities provide. The application of the physical and biological sciences in such activities as agriculture, fishing, forestry, manufacturing is rendered highly feasible through experiments and re searches in the laboratory and workshops of the university. The development of trained craftsmen and technicians in polytechnic schools is not easy of attainment without the as sistance of the university in the educational preparation of men and women who are to handle or manage the classrooms and students of these institutions. For let us remember that the skills and techniques required for an efficient operation of farms, fisheries, and factories have to change and improve if economic development is to continue meeting the increasing needs of fast growing popula tions. The university has to provide the kind of men and women that could help turn out workers capable of meeting these changes. For it is not enough for a country to have highly qualified engineers and top-level scientists. An extens i v e economic development cannot take place without skilled craftsmen and ordinary technicians. The countries in Southeast Asia are in great need of these classes of workers. Their vast natural resources on land and at sea will remain greatly undeveloped unless well-trained workers are made available for their proper ex ploitation. Capital investments, whether local or foreign, will not be capable of solving the problems of development with out numerous trained hands under the supervision and man agement of superior adminis trators. But we cannot even begin to. plan for economic development, for the abolition of poverty, for the raising of our standards of living if the problem of peace and order in our commu nities does not receive cons tant attention from those en trusted to perform this duty. This is principally a problem of government. Disregarding for the moment the serious troubles and disorders arising from foreign sources, the main tenance of internal peace with in each country in Southeast Asia should naturally be the concern of the police. But ex perience shows that the solution that the police or other armed forces usually provide is no more than a temporary expe dient, uncertain in its effects and doubtful in its efficacy. A more lasting stability and great er assurances of security to life Panorama and property could be expected only through the creation of a preponderant majority of edu cated persons in every commu nity who understand not only their individual rights but also their personal and social obliga tions as citizens of a free na tion. Thus, it is increasingly real ized by governments all over the world, governments led by men and women who are moved by a deep sense of responsibi lity, that the tranquility of the nation can be better safeguard ed through the inculcation of civic education among the masses and through the ad vancement of higher education of those who hope to be their leaders. No wonder then that in several countries today, countries that cannot be con sidered underdeveloped in any sense of the word, public funds spent for education are cons tantly being increased to figures exceeding even those set aside for military defenses. The leaders in Southeast Asia would be doing work of high states manship if they follow the sam ples set by these countries giv ing the highest priority to pub lic investments for education. HOPE THAT this brief des cription of the problems common to Southeast Asia will give us an idea of the role that the universities in this region are expected to play if they should faithfully perform their fundamental obligation of serv ing the individual and society in this part of the world. They might be recreant to their duty if they leave to European and American universities the sole task of preparing men and wo men for the various fields of activity in these areas. They have to assume the responsibi lity of producing the type of scholars, scientists, and techni cians that can best understand the difficulties of the problems pecu :ar to this region. To make ’hemselves equal to this impoi^ant assignment, our high er institutions of learning should improve their perform ance and raise their educational standards to the highest possi ble degree. This is the first duty of every university if it is to win the respect of the aca demic and the scientific world and if it is to attract to its halls the most highly qualified and intellectually gifted men and women in the different Southeast Asian countries. For purpose of giving the proper culture and education better suited to their environment, our universities should do what is necessary for keeping our fu ture workers and leaders riglit here. From the point of view of financial and economic con siderations, no country in Southeast Asia is in a position December 1960 9 to support the number of men and women for higher training abroad. But the work of each univer sity in this respect could be enhanced and rendered more effective by cooperation with other universities. There are different ways by which this could be accomplished. One is through the establishment of a strong, active, and compact association of colleges and uni versities in the different coun tries in Southeast Asia, an as sociation with energetic mem bers moved by a vision of a progressive and self-reliant Southeast Asian community. It should plan a program of cons tant and regular contacts with one another through regional bilateral conferences. It should provide a system of exchanges of visiting professors and ad vanced or graduate students. It should have a common publica tion to which scholars and scientists of the different univ ersities should contribute the product of their studies and re searches. It should provide for an exchange of publications is sued by the different universi ties and of books and pamph lets written by their respective professors. In addition to the association of colleges and uni versities, mutual cooperation and more effective understand ing could be achieved by the establishment and maintenance of one or more associations of individual scholars, scientists, and leaders of the different countries of Southeast Asia. Through these different methods and devices, we may yet hope for the development of a strong and well-knit com munity of the countries in this particular region of the world that can be instrumental in raising the standards of living, in strengthening the cause of democracy and freedom, and in promoting peace and prosperity through education. ¥ ¥ ¥ Empirical Guesses “He drove straight to his goal,” said the politi cal orator. “He looked neither to the right nor to the left, but pressed forward, moved by a definite purpose. Neither friend nor foe could delay him nor turn him from his course. All who crossed his path did so at their own peril. What would you call such a man?” “A truck driver,” shouted someone from the audience 10 Panorama