MANILA — The inclusion of several Philippine schools in the latest global rankings published by a British higher education magazine highlighted the academe's competitiveness and continued improvement, an official of the Ateneo De Manila University (ADMU) said on Thursday.

Ateneo landed in the 351-500 bracket of the 2023 World University Rankings by Times Higher Education (THE), making it the country's top university. The University of the Philippines, De La Salle University, and Mapua University also made it to the list.

• Ateneo surpasses UP as top PH university in world rankings

"If you notice, there are now 4 universities in the ranking…This is a good sign, it means we continuously benchmark against other universities globally and we continue to improve our programs, our structures to be globally competitive," ADMU University Research Council Chairperson Ma. Louise Antonette De la Peñas said.

She said among Ateneo's strength is research. The university's priorities include universal health and well-being, as well as educational transformation and reform.

"I think one important shift, how the pandemic changed the landscape, is this has challenged more higher education institutes to engage in research that is needed in society. There is a stronger need to engage academe in the government, with community," she told ANC.

"Bold action is needed from universities to work on problems that will bring in policies that are relying on our current needs and the needs of tomorrow," she added.

Despite the recognition, De La Peñas said there were still challenges to the country's academe, including the digital divide due to the pandemic, risks of remote learning, the low level of PhD turnout, and most importantly, the access to quality education.

"All of us in the academe should work hard together to make education accessible," she said.

• CHED: World rankings improve universities' reputation
• Several schools already implementing full F2F classes ahead of November deadline