The Open University of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM) or University of the City of Manila headquartered at the Gusaling Don Pepe Atienza at Intramuros, Manila, has operated a continuing education program for working adults and professionals in its partner institutions and agencies in and out of the country. It is designed to provide higher education and improved qualifications to individuals who are unable to take advantage of traditional modes of education because of personal and professional responsibilities. Open University offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree programs. History The reorganization at the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM) in 1997 paved the way for the establishment of the Division of Community Health Services (DCHS), which now serves as a component of the Open University. With the Integrated Midwifery Association of the Philippines (IMAP), it pioneered a program leading to the degree of Bachelor of Science in Community Health Service (BSCHS), a special program to qualified members and officers of IMAP that aims to upgrade their standards and quality of services. On April 16, 1998, PLM graduated its first batch of 87 midwives. Of these graduates, 39 were sponsored by Nestle Philippines. Working with the Quality University Education for Social Transformation (QUEST), a non-government educational foundation, PLM and the Trinity University of Asia in Quezon City have already graduated more than 6,000 midwives nationwide. Originally offering only the BCHS Program, the DCHS expanded its offerings to include the Master of Community Health Service (MCHS) in 2001. A year later, PLM by virtue of its charter, installed its General Education Curriculum (GEC) for the first two years of college education at the Second Philippine International School (SPIS), an all-Filipino educational institution for Overseas Filipino Workers in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This curriculum, permitted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Ministry of Education, allows the student to pursue, in later years, courses in any discipline at PLM or in any institution for higher learning in the Philippines. Visiting assignments of PLM professors are part of the agreement between the partner schools. In 2004, off-campus connections were established with Asia Pacific College of Advanced Studies, Southville International School and Colleges, and World CITI Colleges. In that same year, Mayor Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. of Quezon City signed a memorandum of agreement with the Open University that allows undergraduate city and barangay employees to get a college degree. To qualify, City Hall applicants should