By Bryan R. Realgo
Correspondent

Optimizing their potentials as social investors, 26 senior sociology students of the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) participated in the 10th Socially Innovative Global Online Classroom (SIGLOC) from March 10 to 25.     

Organized by the Osaka City University in Japan, SIGLOC is a multi-national collaborative learning program that aims to develop the ability of participants to address social issues that involve the government, non-profit organizations, and corporations. 

In the global classroom, student-participants from various universities share their experiences, exchange opinions, and collaborate to create solutions to social issues, such as supply chain, local and global goals sustainability. 

"Committed to making our students analytical and critical thinkers, the SIGLOC program is perfectly aligned with our aspiration to equip our student's tools to dissect pressing social issues and the various ways to help ameliorate the human condition," said Prof. Owen Salvador, BA Sociology Program Coordinator. 

Salvador added such exposure also enriches the students’ experience of world-class university education. 

With its strong orientation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the program encourages cross-cultural collaboration between international students and universities. All participants who meet the prescribed requirements are conferred a certificate of completion. 

Prof. Jeanette Dials, chief for international faculty and student mobility, noted the participation of MMSU students to the Japan-based online learning is in line with the Commission on Higher Education Memorandum No. 56 series of 2016, also known as the Policy Framework and Strategies on the Internationalization of the Philippine Higher Education Institutions. (HLY/JVBT/DPTJ, StratCom)