The Commission of Higher Education calls for an exemption of RA. 10931 from the proposed government budget cut amid COVID-19.
Exemption for RA. 10931
Chairman for the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Prospero “Popoy” De Vera, reminded the House of Representatives that cutting off its 2020 national budget will result in the downfall of RA. 10931, also commonly referred to as the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act.
The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has announced the slashing off by 35 percent on all budgets intended for government agencies, to allocate on aiding to the needs during the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
De Vera reminded the congressmen, that tertiary education is a vital part of the country’s progress after this pandemic. He also noted that the budget for RA. 10931 is already way below as expected, yet decreasing it further will cause a serious handicap to its operation.
Free college education
The CHED had an expected budget of around 7.1 billion pesos ($140 million) to fund the Free College Education Act. The budget is allocated in all State Universities and Colleges within the Philippines to provide a free college education to those students qualified under the program.
But according to De Vera, the budget was chipped away during the National Expenditure Program, which made it a bit tighter during the implementation. He added, that CHED is not part of this budget, it only passes through CHED to be distributed into State Universities nationwide.
The money goes to university maintenance, operating expenses, staff, part-time professors, and the stipend for students under the assistance program. If the budget is further reduced, considering 35 percent is a huge chunk of it, then there will be a huge impact on the operations of all State Universities involved.
De Vera is hoping that Congress will consider the budget exception for CHED, if not, many students under the free college education program will fall off the list for the next academic year.
