Golden Link College

Golden Link College is a tertiary educational institution with four campuses in different cities in the Philippines. It was established by the Theosophical Society in the Philippines and the Theosophical Order of Service in 2002. The school emphasizes personality and character development in its curriculum, with courses on self-awareness, self-mastery, effective relationships, values integration, and related subjects on self-development. Its teaching approaches avoid the use of fear, ranking, and comparison in motivating students. It is non-sectarian and promotes freedom of thought and expression.

Main campus of Golden Link College in Caloocan City

Campus

The campuses of Golden Link are located in the following cities:

• Caloocan City (main campus)
• Cortes, Bohol
• Sta Maria, Bulacan
• Quezon City

On its main campus, the school offers preschool, primary, secondary, and collegiate courses. The college courses offered are Bachelor of Elementary Education, Bachelor of Secondary Education, Bachelor of Science in Psychology, Bachelor of Science in Information Technology, Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, and Bachelor of Science in Accounting Information Systems. It also offers a Teacher Certificate Program (TCP) for college graduates of other courses who want to obtain a teaching license.

Affiliate Schools

Golden Link College has three affiliate schools that adopt the same educational approach. They are:

• Philippine Lumen School, Bago City, Negros Occidental
• Alesna Integrated School, Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu
• TOS Learning Center, Caloocan City

Another affiliate school was established in Chennai, India, in 2019 called Adyar Theosophical Academy.

Curriculum

The curriculum of Golden Link College includes subjects, activities, and programs that supplement the required courses of the Philippine Department of Education and the Commission on Higher Education. For high school and college levels, a self-transformation program is one of the subjects students must take, which includes learning self-awareness, handling stress and psychological distress, nurturing effective relationships, integrating core values in daily life, removing fears and phobias, meditation, and related topics. In the college department, GLC adds required subjects that students must take, namely:

• Self-transformation course
• Theosophy and the Perennial Philosophy
• Introduction to Philosophy
• Comparative Religion
• Marriage and Parenting
• Theosophical Education and Alternative Education Approaches (for Teacher Education students)
• Parapsychology and Transpersonal Psychology (for Psychology students)

History

The educational projects of TS in the Philippines were inspired by the educational ideas of J. Krishnamurti. This led to the establishment of the first school in 1986 called Sunshine Learning Center (now a branch of Golden Link College) at the national headquarters of the TS in the Philippines. It offered nursery and kindergarten classes. The second school was the TOS Learning Center in Caloocan City, which was meant to be a charity preschool institution for very poor families.

Responding to the need for higher grades, the Golden Link School was put up in 2002 starting with preschool and kindergarten levels, adding grade levels year after year. In 2009, it opened its collegiate department with bachelor’s courses in education, and later in other fields. It was renamed Golden Link College.

In 2009, an affiliate school was set up in Bago City, Negros Occidental, called Philippine Lumen School. In 2013, a branch of Golden Link was put up in Cortes, a town in the southern island of Bohol. In 2018, another affiliate school was also established in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu, called Alesna Integrated School. In 2019, an affiliate school was put up in Chennai, India, called the Adyar Theosophical Academy. In 2024, a branch campus was open in Sta. Maria, Bulacan.

References

• Education Without Fear and Comparison by Vicente Hao Chin Jr., Caloocan City: Golden Link Publishing, 2024
• "Education and Theosophy," Theosophical Encyclopedia.

Websites

• Golden Link College: http://theosophy.ph/goldenlinkcollege.html