President Duterte To Make All Colleges, Universities In The Philippines Tuition-Free In 2017
The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) on Friday,
December 16 announced that tuition fee in the undergraduate programs of all
state universities and colleges (SUCs) will soon be free.
The announcement was made after the agency received an
additional P8.3 billion fund initially intended for projects in the Autonomous
Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
The grant is part of the P3.35 trillion Philippine budget
recently approved by the Congress.
“The intention is all state universities and colleges would
no longer charge undergraduate tuition so that P8 billion is supposed to cover
undergraduate tuition in all state universities and colleges,” CHED Chairperson
Patricia Licuanan told ANC.
An allocation of P5.8 billion will be used for the continued
implementation of student assistance programs like Iskolar ng Bayan, PAMANA
Study Grant Program, Tulong-Dunong Program as well as scholarship grants for
kids of small farmers and sugarcane workers.
In addition, P4.6 billion will be allocated for the
continued implementation of the K to 12 program, which started taking effect
this year.
However, CHED is still working on the guidelines on how the
free tuition policy will be implemented.
Licuanan emphasized that all SUCs will be instructed not to collect tuition but may charge for other fees and graduate school tuition.
Licuanan emphasized that all SUCs will be instructed not to collect tuition but may charge for other fees and graduate school tuition.
“Free tuition will help tremendously. It will free I guess
resources of families and students for the other costs... because there are other
costs to getting a college education,” Lucuanan said.
Meanwhile, Kabataan Partylist representative Sarah Elago has
issued a statement on the planned tuition-free policy on SUCs.
“This is a victory for the youth movement which has long
fought for the right to education. This is great news for the nation’s youth
and their families, especially the poor and marginalized. Perhaps, this is the
best news for millennials this year, and one which will have a profound and
long-lasting effect on their futures and especially our nation’s,” Elago wrote
on her Facebook post.
Source: The Summit Express
President Duterte To Make All Colleges, Universities In The Philippines Tuition-Free In 2017
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December 17, 2016
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