FOR global education-solutions provider Marshall Cavendish Education (MCE), the Philippines remains a “great market.”
In its long and fruitful partnership with local publisher SC Mardison Corp., MCE has been able to promote quality educational resources to Filipinos across the country for almost two decades now.
“We are very bullish [with the Philippine market; we will continue to invest in this] country.” Lim Soon Jinn, Digital Solutions and Commercial head at MCE-Singapore, told the BusinessMirror during the recently concluded “MCE Global Conference: Agility in Education in the VUCA World” in the City of Manila.
For Lim, a major reason behind the positive outlook is the launch of the “Basic Education Development Plan 2030” by the Department of Education, aimed at improving the delivery and quality of learning in the Philippines. This will help advance the country’s path toward economic growth, Lim said, as he shared MCE’s observation that education has played a key role in national development.
“MCE wants to nurture the joy of learning in the classroom; [it encourages students to engage more in their classes by] asking the right questions…,” Lim added.
Ulysses Crisostomo, who is SC Mardison Corp. CEO, said the partnership with MCE has been very fruitful and productive, as the country’s top private schools continue to support educational resources such as textbooks, digital resources and professional development services for teachers by the company.
SC Mardison Corp. is the distributor for MCE’s educational resources, which include a whole suite of textbooks, digital resources and professional development to support schools in implementing quality education. Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University, Xavier University and St. Scholastica’s College are just some of the schools in the Philippines that use such resources.
He highlighted that the recently concluded conference on global education focused on ways educational institutions need to prepare and thrive in the volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world, otherwise termed as “VUCA.”
Part of SC Mardison Corp.’s commitment to promote quality education is in providing free training sessions to teachers at least four times a year. The level of training ranges from “beginners” for new or first-time teachers, “advanced,” as well as for Mathematics and Science, among others.
“They see the success and effectiveness of our educational resources, and that’s why they continue to use them,” Crisostomo added.
One of the most well-received among MCE’s series in the Philippines would be the “My Pals are Here! International” which follows the Singaporean learning method. For science, Science Matters is the leading textbook.
“We have a lot of materials based on [Singapore’s curriculum, and…books on other international curricula such as those from the Cambridge Assessment International Education…] framework,” Crisostomo pointed out.
Further, SC Mardison Corp. has clients in cities such as Cebu, Iloilo, Bacolod, Davao, Baguio, and more. Grades 1 to 10 students use its distributed textbooks.
Crisostomo disclosed that SC Mardison Corp. had to find ways to sell them during the pandemic: “Luckily for us, we added digital products to our portfolio.”
He added, “I think the pandemic accelerated the need for digital products. Nevertheless, printed books are still in demand because students use [them for a year. We found out that the books we sell…have an impact. The pedagogy must have a sound impact. It must not only be something new, but should really help the teachers share their] knowledge.”
The CEO shared SC Mardison Corp.’s gratitude for its milestones, as it has managed to thrive and cater to the needs of the country’s leading schools.
“They stayed with us for a long time, and we were able to create a loyal customer base. We make sure that their needs are met,” he pointed out.