With over 1.3 million registered learners and 85% year-over-year growth, the Philippines is the third fastest growing country on the Coursera platform. The country has emerged as a priority market for the online learning platform Coursera in the Asia Pacific.

Women in the Philippines are learning online at higher rates compared to pre-pandemic. The country ranks No. 1 worldwide for the highest increase in enrollments from women, growing 774% year-over-year.

Coursera is looking at accelerating its growth plans in the country launching several initiatives including that will serve new enterprise and campus customers.

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“The pandemic has dramatically changed the way we learn, teach, and work. Our strong momentum in the Philippines reflects the continued trend of individuals and institutions embracing online learning to develop high-demand digital skills,” said Jeff Maggioncalda, CEO, Coursera. “We are excited to serve leading campuses and companies in the country with a growing selection of job-relevant content and credentials delivered on a mobile-friendly platform to address the country’s skills and digital divide.”

Partnerships

The online learning platform has partnered with 60 new Coursera for Campus customers (Lyceum of the Philippines University, Centro Escolar University, National Teachers College, University of the Philippines, and De La Salle Lipa) and 10 new Coursera for Business customers (Ayala Corpo., Globe Telecom, Bank of the Philippine Islands, Ayala Land, and Bayview Technologies).

In the public sector, Coursera will be working with the Department of Science and Technology, building on the success of the Coursera for Workforce Recovery program.

It also made a couple of platform innovations to bridge the digital divide and build accessible learning experiences with 61% of learners in the Philippines using mobile devices to access Coursera. The platform allows learners to download courses, synchronize progress and quizzes, take notes with highlights, and calendar sync — optimized for low data consumption.

The Philippines accounts for the second-largest share of financial aid awarded by Coursera to learners in Southeast Asia with over 60,000 enrollments supported by financial aid.

“The pandemic has spurred large-scale upskilling among enterprises and governments. Universities can help reduce the skills shortage by improving student employability through industry-relevant content,” said Raghav Gupta, managing director, Asia Pacific, Coursera. “As the country embraces online learning at a faster pace, Coursera is committed to helping many more learners and institutions in the Philippines prepare for the digital future.”

The Philippines also leads Southeast Asia in the adoption of Guided Projects — a hands-on learning experience that enables learners to build a job-relevant skill in less than two hours. Filipino learners accounted for more than half of the 375,000 enrollments in Guided Projects in the region since their launch in May 2020.