Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said he will seek additional funding for next year’s higher education programs to ensure that qualified students would not be deprived of free college education and financial assistance.
Gatchalian made the promise during the Senate Committee on Finance’s hearing on the proposed budgets of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and State Universities and Colleges (SUCs).
CHED Chairperson J. Prospero De Vera III, during the hearing, eported that around 379,000 qualified Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES) applicants were not covered due to lack of funding, 226,000 of which are enrolled in private schools and run the risk of not being able to study anymore.
According to De Vera, over P10-billion is needed to cover these 226,000 students. Under the proposed 2023 budget there are no funds for new TES grantees for Academic Year 2022-2023.
The TES primarily provides additional funding for education-related costs, including books, transportation, board and lodging, and allowances for disability-related expenses, among others.
This prompted Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate Committee on Basic Education, to assure CHED that he will support the agency’s goals.
“I’m with you in making sure that our students are studying and that the spirit of the free higher education law is being faithfully implemented,” Gatchalian told CHED.
“Unfortunately, we are depriving 226,000 students of education because the government did not allocate more funding,” he added.
Likewise, the lawmaker assured CHED that he will help secure funds that would allow six new CHED-recognized Local Universities and Colleges (LUCs) to avail of free tuition.
According to the CHED, while these six LUCs are already institutionally accredited, they are currently not assured of reimbursements for tuition and miscellaneous fees.
A budget of P200-million is needed so that an estimated 17,000 students enrolled in these six LGUs can avail of free higher education, according to the CHED chief.