No exodus of private school grads with full implementation of free education act
Despite the full implementation of free higher education starting this year, government education agencies expressed confidence that there will be no exodus of enrollees from the private schools to public higher education institutions (HEIs).
The Department of Education (DepEd) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) said that the implementation of Republic Act (RA) 10931 or the “Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education” (UAQTEA), might not be enough reason for the feared influx of enrollees from private HEIs to State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) and CHED-recognized Local Universities and Colleges (LUCs).
Undersecretary for Planning and Field Operation Jesus Mateo, in a recent press conference, noted that students will probably enroll in schools of their preference according to their chosen courses.
In college, Mateo said that there are different courses that students can take up and HEIs have their respective “specialty” course offerings too. “Even in SUCs, they have specialty [courses],” he said. DepEd data showed that this year, a total of 1,252,357 learners are anticipated to comprise the first batch of those who complete SHS.
Of the four different tracks offered in SHS, 61.13 percent (or 765,588) of this year’s enrollees took up the Academic track which offers five “Strands” –Accountancy, Business, and Management (ABM); General Academic (GA); Humanities and Social and Social Sciences (HUMSS); Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and pre-baccalaureate Maritime.
SHS graduates who took up the Academic Track are those who are expected to pursue higher education.
However, DepEd and CHED clarified that even those who took up the other tracks are eligible to pursue college education.
Meanwhile, CHED Officer-InCharge Prospero de Vera III, in an earlier interview, said the Commission is not expecting an influx of college students coming from private colleges and universities transferring to institutions due to the implementation of the UAQTEA.
First of all, De Vera noted that SUCs and CHED-recognized LUCs are expected to “tighten” their admission requirements for transferee students. He added that in most SUCs and LUCs, transferee slots are “often limited.”