The ¡°discomfort¡± of being around stark wealth inequity aids in the formation of socially aware students who can be ¡°part of finding the solution¡±, a Manila forum has heard.

Bernard Oca, president of De La Salle University, said the ¡°social reality¡± of poverty right outside his campus was jarring for his ¡°privileged¡± students. But it was also a potent learning opportunity.

¡°When you come into the university campus¡­you have a sense of peace and quiet [that] is not the reality outside,¡± Brother Bernard told the THE Campus Live SE Asia event hosted by his university. ¡°We always remind [students] that, ¡®You have been given a lot of graces and blessings by God. And you are meant to share that and be of service to the poor and the marginalised in our society.¡¯¡±

De La Salle¡¯s majestic campus is highlighted by the neoclassical St La Salle Hall, considered one of the Philippines¡¯ finest buildings. Beyond the university gates, homeless families sleep on the broken pavement near Taft Avenue¡¯s gridlocked traffic.

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Brother Bernard, who began his elementary schooling at De La Salle in 1961 and has been there ever since, said he had witnessed Manila¡¯s transition from a ¡°quiet, gentrified city¡± to an urban jungle. During this period, the university had helped a ¡°very poor community¡± adjacent to the campus.

Its houses were ¡°blown away¡± in strong winds, forcing residents to shelter in the university gym. ¡°Now¡­they have cement walls and sturdy surroundings, yet there is still poverty. De La Salle University is helping [provide] employment, livelihood, health and education.¡±

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Roberto Yap, president of nearby Ateneo de Manila University, said his Jesuit institution considered education a ¡°tool for social transformation¡±. The university put a ¡°high premium¡± on ¡°whole-person formation¡±, he told the forum.

Ateneo de Manila had created a social formation curriculum?that?was mandatory for all undergraduates and geared to their degrees, he said. First-year students might visit a poor community for a few days. In the second year, they might live there for a period. In the third year, they ¡°work on certain projects with the community¡±, and in the fourth year they developed a ¡°policy advocacy proposal¡±.

Eng Chye Tan, president of the National University of Singapore (NUS), said his students devoted 60 to 80 hours a year to community service as part of a general education component of their degrees. He said the university¡¯s entrepreneurial arm, NUS Enterprise, had produced not only commercially oriented projects, but also social enterprises operating overseas.

?had engineered a hand-operated filtration pump?that had given thousands of poor villagers access to clean drinking water.??had produced a ¡°simply assembled toilet¡± for regions with inadequate sanitation.

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But a De La Salle student said serving the marginalised was not a priority for most of his peers, who were focused primarily on their families in a country where up to 40 per cent of the population lived in poverty.

¡°We want to¡­create social impact [but] in fact very few people are doing that right now,¡± said the student, who asked not to be named. ¡°A lot of Filipinos have not reached that point of privilege and comfort to be able to focus?on this societal perspective.

¡°You can grow your families, your own wealth and your own privilege while at the same time helping others. But I think we are still quite a long way from that.¡±

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com