P40B allotted for free education

THE House of Representatives on Thursday said it had carved out P40 billion that will be used for the free college education program of the Duterte administration. “I am happy to announce that we found P40 billion to finance free higher education for 2018,” Davao City Rep. Karlo Nograles said in a news conference at the chamber.

According to Nograles, also the chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, the amount was gathered from funds of differ- ent agencies.

He said the appropriations committee got P30 billion from the Department of Education, P6 billion from scholarship programs of state universities and colleges or SUCs, P3 billion from the Department of Transportation and P1 billion from the Department of Information and Communications Technology.

Nograles added that the P40 billion will be used for free tuition and miscellaneous expenses in SUCs and in local universities and colleges that are accredited by Commission on Higher Education or CHEd.

The allocation will also go to free technical vocational education in institutions that are under the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority or Tesda.

It will also cover subsidy for nutrition education in SUCs and private schools, as well as student loans, according to Nograles.