ALKHOBAR, 1 October 2004 — At least three of the Philippines’ top universities are now competing for the best graduates of Filipino high schools in the Middle East.
The latest to join the race is De La Salle University (DLSU), which said it will soon administer its college entrance examinations for graduating Filipino students in the Kingdom.
Juanito Cabanias, director of the student admissions at DLSU Dasmarinas in Cavite province, will be visiting Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates on Oct.27 and Riyadh on Oct. 28 to conduct the examinations.
DLSU will join the University of the Philippines (UP) and the University of Santo Tomas (UST), which had brought their entrance exams to the Kingdom to get a first crack of the best graduates.
Word has it that Ateneo de Manila University, considered the second best university after UP, may also conduct its own examinations abroad.
Vice Consul and Third Secretary Germinia Aguilar-Usudan clarified that the entrance examinations will be conducted inside the Philippine Embassy premises in Riyadh as requested by officials of the concerned university officials in Manila.
Filipino schools in the Eastern Province have asked the embassy to allow at least the UP College Admission Test, or UPCAT, to be conducted in Alkhobar to spare students from the difficulty and hazard of traveling for five hours just to take the exams.
But Usudan said the university officials, citing the current security situation in the Middle East, insist that the examinations be held inside the embassies.
Usudan said that the UPCAT is scheduled on Oct. 22 and will be administered by Prof. Gerald Pio Franco, the assistant director for test administration.
Franco will meet with the school officials of various schools on Oct. 20 to discuss matters concerning the examination. Applications will be processed immediately the following day.
The US Entrance Test (USTET) is scheduled on Nov. 5. Its examiner, Dr. Marie Ann Sunga-Vargas, will meet with the various school officials on Nov. 4 to discuss the conduct of the examination.
Processing of the applications and final preparations will also be done on the same day.
The three universities require all 4th year high school students to submit their final grades for the first, second and third year of the four-year curriculum of the Department of Education. Entrance fee is $100 per student.