AMA University Online Education (AMA OEd) was established primarily to reach out to students of all ages who, for one reason or another, had to quit school.
AMA OEd is a fully online education program in the Philippines that takes advantage of the increasing use of technology to serve the underserved.
According to Dr. Amable C. Aguiluz IX, vice chair and CEO, AMA Education System, there are 110,000 students in the platform and 85% of them are working individuals. About 10% are full-time students and 5% are people with disabilities while 15% are from overseas majority coming from the Middle East.
Aside from addressing the problems of out-of-school youth and PWDs, AMA OEd also hopes to solve the problems of students in far-flung areas. The geographical challenge sometimes discourages students that may lead to giving up school altogether.
AMA OEd offers full bachelor degree, as well as short and certificate, courses with Computer Science as the most popular. Students will have their classes by using video and audio. They also have quizzes and exams to complete their requirements. All in all, enrollees will earn a degree without having to go to a brick and mortar school.
The virtual classes also have instructors. Students who have questions can contact their teachers through the website’s messaging feature. Aguiluz explained that teachers need to respond within a set time frame. AMA OEd also fixed the concerns on instances where another person is taking the exam in place of the student. Enabled web cameras will take shots of the students every few minutes to guarantee that he or she is not using a substitute.
There is a big difference in terms of tuition because students of online courses don’t have fees students attending class on campus usually pay like laboratory use and the like. Like anything done online, students can pay through various payment gateways that AMA chose to partner with.
Aside from bachelor degrees, AMA OEd is also offering Master degrees and units professionals need to advance their careers. Aguiluz also shared that the online school will soon be tapping renowned artists and professionals to teach courses in filmmaking, songwriting, and dance. As of recent, AMA OEd has started a full-online K-11-12.
“Our mission in the future is to just continue to help people finish their studies,” Aguiluz said. Marlet D. Salazar