ISINAGAWA ng Our Lady of Fatima University (OLFU) ang international learning conference “Synergizing Partnerships in Advancing Research, Knowledge and Service (SPARKS)” kamakailan sa Novotel Hotel, Quezon City.

Layunin ng OLFU sa dalawang araw na programa na mapalakas ang interactions sa mga estudyante sa pamamagitan ng pakikipag-ugnayan sa mga nangungunang local at international leading experts.

Kabilang sa mga nakiisa sa Sparks ang delegasyon ng China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Australia, United States at Philippines.

Nakatuon ang programa sa academic diplomacy tampok ang apat na international speakers, gayundin ang ilang local speakers na pawang eksperto sa kanilang career.

Dumalo rin sa pagdiriwang ang 34 organizations mula sa pamahalaan, sektor ng business at education.

Nagsalita sa welcome address si Dr. Caroline Marian S. Enriquez, Pangulo ng OLFU, at binigyan ng kahalagahan ang pang-unawa sa academic diplomacy sa makabagong panahon.

“As an institution which values the substance of both academic diplomacy and excellence, the SPARKS International Conference is the first of a series of international conferences that we plan to get into because we want to expose not only our students but also the other schools who may not have the capabilities to launch something like this. Our goal with SPARKS is to open up the mindset of students to the importance of internationalization in the context of other cultures and the differences between regions so that they can apply it with deference to how it should be done, in ways that are culturally and politically correct. The SPARKS International Conference is the first step in OLFU’s aim to achieve “a global and borderless meeting of the minds,” pahayag ni Dr. Enriquez.

Naging keynote speaker naman si Prof. Datuk Dr. Noor Azlan Ghazali, Chairperson ng University Mobility in Asia and the Pacific (UMAP) at Vice Chancellor ng National University of Malaysia. Ibinahagi niya ang kahalagahan ng ‘higher education’ sa Asya.

Inimbitahan naman bilang foreign speakers si Erin Watson-Lynn, Director for Asialink, University of Melbourne, Australia at Chairman ng Advisory Board ng National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education.

Nagbigay din ng kanilang kaalaman sina Ooi Ching Ya, Assistant Vice-President, Culture Education & New Growth Apple Education Chair, Asia Pacific, Singapore; Dr. Yasmin Y. Ortiga ng School of Humanities and Social Sciences in Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

Kabilang naman sa mga local expert speakers sina Dr. Laura Quiambao Del Rosario, President, Pax Et Lumen International Academy at dating Philippine Ambassador to India; Xavier Alpasa, faculty member of the Ateneo Graduate School of Business and Chief Strategist of Xavier and Associates; Dr. Luis Maria R. Calingo, President, Holy Angel University; Charlito S. Ayco, Managing Director of WeGen Foundation; at Julio S. Amado, III, Deputy Director-General of the Philippine Foreign Service Institute.

Ang SPARKS International Conference ay isinagawa bilang bahagi ng pagdiriwang ng ika-50 anibersaryo ng OLFU.

Mula sa 25-bed hospital noong 1967 sa Valenzuela, nakapagtayo ang OLFU ng limang campus sa Valenzuela, Quezon City, Antipolo, Pampanga at Nueva Ecija, habang patuloy sa pag-produced ng mga topnotchers student.