The P11.6 billion budget cut for the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) this 2020 will cripple the agency’s scholarship grants. CHED has been granting free tuition and scholarship grants for thousands of students in high school and college levels out of the fund for the previous years.
According to Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, CHED’s proposed budget for 2020 is P11.65 billion lower compared to the agency’s budget this year.
A budget cut in tertiary education is like a forced dropout
Senator Recto feared that instead of diplomas, it will be dismissal slips and an increase in the number of dropouts. He added, having a budget cut in tertiary education is like a forced drop out for the affected scholars in private schools.
Around 80 percent of the 2020 budget for CHED is allotted for the funding of the government college scholarship program under Republic Act 10931, commonly known as the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education (UAQTE).
The UAQTE is a Philippine law that imposes free tuition for all students in any state university in the country. 2019 budget for UAQTE is around P 42.5 billion but is expected to diminish to P35.36 billion next year. The reduced budget for UAQTE is expected to affect 708,993 beneficiaries.
Also to be noted for this proposed budget cut is the removal of the Tulong Dunong Program of CHED which was supposed to be on a budget of P 2.6 billion.
Project Tulong Dunong is a scholarship funded by CHED that give full and half merit scholarships in college for High Schools students with at least a passing GWA upon graduation, current college students with weighted average to be at a passing level, and students who passed the Alternative Learning System (ALS) program.
Limited scholarship slots for deserving candidates
There is no clear reason behind the reduction of the budget allotted for the education agency, but some might see this as filtering for those who deserve the scholarship grants. Since the UAQTE is approved, the partial subsidy for state universities has been changed into a full subsidy by the government.
Providing a huge provision like UAQTE did eat up a huge chunk of budget for the tertiary education.
The Tulong Dunong Program might have been obliterated to discourage mediocre performance in availing scholarships. The program has minimal requirements to qualify, in return for huge benefits. The budget cut might be a way of encouraging current and aspiring scholars to be more competitive and impressive academically to maintain their scholarship grants.
