Lamenting the apparent deterioration of our educational system, Senator Edgardo Angara urged academics, professionals, and students to continue improving performance in school and at work.

The Senator made his call as he noted the absence of any Philippine University in the list of Times Higher Education (THE) for 2009 that released recently the world’s top 200 universities.

“It is but ironic that while we have one of the biggest, best-skilled pools of professionals in the global workforce, our education system is not recognized to be at par with other universities in the world,” lamented Angara, former President of the University of the Philippines.

In the past, he said the UP System consistently tops national rankings and ratings in education standards.

Out of the 200 schools in the list, over a fourth are in the US. There are 29 from the UK, 10 from Germany, 9 from Australia, 11 from Canada, 11 from  Japan and five from Sweden. Some geographically-small countries also yield an impressive record this year: the Netherlands with 11 universities, Belgium with 5 and Switzerland with 7 in the list.