Calasiao, Pangasinan — The Commission on Higher Education Regional Office I (CHED RO1) is holding a two-day Lifelong Learning Summit at the Monarch Hotel starting today, July 28, 2026, to accelerate the flexible learning pathways to enable Filipinos to upgrade and gain competencies across the life course.

Under the letter “A” of the A.C.H.I.E.V.E 2030 agenda of the commission, Advanced and Accessible Lifelong Learning, CHED RO1 aims to provide Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the Ilocos Region opportunities to expand their knowledge, strengthen institutional capacities, and adopt innovative, inclusive, and globally relevant practices that promote quality higher education for all learners.

“Today is just the first step. At the end of the day, what matters is not what we talked about, but the outcomes we will produce,” CHED RO1 Director Dr. Cherrie Melanie Ancheta-Diego, CESO III, said in her opening remarks.

Over 110 participants registered for the event attended by CHED Commissioner Dr. Michelle Aguilar-Ong, Chief of the Non-Conventional Higher Education Division (NHD) Dr. Melquiades C. Ancheta, Member of Technical Panel for Open Distance and e-Learning (ODeL) Dr. Ninia Inoncillo-Calaca, and Technical Panel-Expanded Tertiary Education Equivalency and Accreditation Program (ETEEAP) Member Dr. Alexander Franco A. Delantar.

“The demand is there. We do not yet have the institutions to meet it. The gap will not be closed in Manila. It closes when institutions like yours decide to build the pathway and to build it properly,” Commissioner Ong said in her keynote speech. “Non-conventional is what we choose if we truly see and respect the learner. It is not a lesser path, and we should stop speaking about it as one.”

Participants will be grouped in three breakout sessions later in the afternoon, divided into three categories: Microcredentials for the Future, Advancing Flexible and Inclusive Learning Through Open and Distance e-Learning, and Recognizing Prior Learning: Strengthening ETEEAP for Workforce-Response Higher Education.

#CHEDRO1 #ACHIEVE