Pacquiao underscores importance of education

Filipino pound for pound king and Former Sen. Emmanuel Manny Pacquiao announced his partnership and investment in Australian-backed education firm Times Education Holdings in its bid to expand to the aged-care sector and other education initiatives.

Sen. Manny Pacquiao poses with Charles Shiao, CEO of Times Education, and Deputy Mayor of City of Swan, Western Australia Mel Congerton during the launch of Pacquiao’s investment in Times Education. PHOTO BY RED MENDOZA 

In a media briefing on Friday in Makati City, Pacquiao said that his investment in Times Education not only holds the promise of delivering excellent financial returns to investors, but will also give opportunities for Filipino youths to be better engaged with the frail and aged.

“It warms my heart to share that this company is already teaching Filipino students to become the next leaders in aged care roles. Their commitment to our kababayans is why I have chosen to affiliate myself with Times Education” Pacquiao said.

He added that he is “very happy to be a part of this important milestone.” and stressed the importance of Filipinos to invest in education and in taking care of elderly individuals

Charles Shiao, chief executive officer of Times Education, said that they are seeing a “huge population” of Filipino students that would study in Australia, and the expansion of Times Education coming at a more opportune time for the firm.

“We have more established colleges that offer comprehensive courses in aged care. This is a rare chance to get involved in an industry that is not just profitable, but also noble in its mission” Shiao said.

Mel Congerton, the deputy mayor of the City of Swan in Western Australia, said that Australia is facing “serious trouble” in delivering acceptable Residential Aged Care for elderly citizens, especially with the lack of trained staff in these facilities.

“We need 17,000 trained workers each year for the next 10 years, that’s 170,000 new workers in the aged care industry. To add this dilemma, Australia needs to build 520 new residential care facilities over the next 10 years to meet the demand of our aging population.” Congerton said.

He said that the expansion of Times Education into aging social services is an opportunity to add into IIBT’s existing impressive education curriculum a new social services sector training for residential aged care and employment recruitment services.

Under its expansion plans, Times Education plans to build a retirement resort village and residential care center 13 kilometers north of Perth Central business district, which will offer elderly care and services.

Aside from the elderly care village, among the plans lined up by Times Education is the creation of a “Pacquiao Sports Academy” which will be a premier institution for sports education, with coaching and certification programs in a variety of programs, including boxing, tennis, basketball, and golf within the Australian education framework.

It also aims to partner with Philippine colleges to enhance educational opportunities and community engagement, as well as expansion of campuses in other Australian cities such as Melbourne, Canberra, Gold Coast, and Adelaide.