Ayala Corporation is teaming up with London-based multinational education group Pearson to build high schools in the Philippines.

In a statement released in Pearson’s blog last week, the group said the low-cost high schools or Affordable Private Education Centres (APEC) will help students from low-income families be competitive members of the global employment market, honing their leadership skills, essential academic background and other traits to help them be employed.

APEC is a part of Pearson’s global education project called Pearson Affordable Learning Fund (PALF) which aims to ‘Invest in companies that can build quality, affordable and scalable education solutions across the developing world.’

PALF chair Sir Michael Barber said ‘Ayala and Pearson are innovating together to build a school chain that will teach thousands of children, creating opportunities for a better future for them, their families and the country.’

Ayala CEO Jaime Zobel de Ayala added ‘There is strong global demand for Filipino talent and our vision is to deliver high quality, affordable education that can significantly enhance students’ employment potential.’

Around a dozen APEC schools are slated to be built this year and will be funded in the next two years through a multi-million dollar investment.