MANILA, Philippines - 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 billing funding 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.
"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 added.
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 in her viral Facebook post.
--Mini, The Summit Express
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| PHOTO CREDIT: PhilStar |
“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.
"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 added.
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 in her viral Facebook post.
--Mini, The Summit Express
