Rep. Daza urges CHED, DBM to tap ₧10.1-B HEDF fund for scholarships
ASENIOR House deputy minority leader on Wednesday said reforms in the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) are crucial to receive the benefits from the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, and save some private colleges from closure.
“We have one of the best if not the best law on free education but we’re wasting it due to poor implementation,” Senior Deputy Minority Leader Rep. Paul R. Daza of Northern Samar said.
The Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act (Republic Act 10931) took effect in 2018 after being signed by former president Rodrigo Duterte on August 3, 2017.
“It took a very strong political will to be able to enact a law like this. As far as we know, there are less than 30 countries in the world where there is free tertiary education—and many are in developed and uppermiddle income countries. We are among the luckiest, so to speak. However, it seems we are wasting this golden opportunity,” Daza added.
RA 10931 mandates free college tuition in State Universities and Colleges (SUCS). The law also recognizes that those who are part of the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Listahanan, 4Ps, among others, should also get Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES) in addition to the free tuition, which can range from P40,000 (SUC’S) to P60,000 per year (Private Colleges), to support their living expenses.
However, Daza, quoting CHED Region 1 Director Danilo Bose, said that there is no fund allocated for new TES beneficiaries because it was not included in the General Appropriations Act in 2021, 2022, and 2023.
CHED allocated TES only for those in 3rd and 4th year college beneficiaries.
Additionally, in the recent four congressional hearings, the lawmaker said it was revealed that the Higher Education Development Fund (HEDF) currently has P10.1 billion unspent allocation.
The CHED also revealed that TES payables to different private schools have already reached around P6 billion.
During the latest hearing in the lower chamber, Daza said CHED agreed to ultimately utilize the HEDF to settle the TES they owe because some schools are already at risk of closure as they have yet to receive reimbursements.
“Do we really have to wait for these schools to close down before deciding to pay them?” Daza asked.
Under current regulations, the Listahanan identifies poor families, including 4Ps beneficiaries. According to DSWD, it submitted in 2019 a list of potential TES beneficiaries of about 1 million students. However, only about 12,000 received funding.
Daza also pointed out that, based on the CHED’S most recent data, the attrition rate for academic years (AY) 2017-2021 increased to a staggering 47.61 percent across all Higher Education Institution categories (State, Local, and Private). This was a 9.78 percent increase from the 37.83 percent attrition rate for AY 2016-2021.
“It’s sad. We have the funds to change this. The question now is, does CHED and DBM (Department of Budget and Management) have the will to do what must be done? They have the power to utilize the HEDF. They could have done so sooner,” he said.
“I’m calling on DBM and the economic managers to immediately reimburse the private colleges as many are in danger of closing and to augment the CHED TES for the 2024 budget year,” said Daza.
Citing the World Economic Forum (2022), Daza said students risk losing $17 trillion in lifetime earnings in present value, or about 14 percent of today’s global GDP, because of Covid-19-related school closures and economic shocks.
“This gives us all the more reason to prioritize education. The perennial habit or culture of taking education off the list of priorities has to be stopped. We need reforms and we can begin in CHED,” Daza added.