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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Gatchalian: TES program should prioritize students from low-income household

Gatchalian: TES program should prioritize students from low-income household

Published Nov 22, 2023 05:40 am

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said students from low-income households should be prioritized as beneficiaries of the Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES) under the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act or Republic Act No. 10931.

Gatchalian said these students, including those listed under Listahanan 2.0—an information management system that identifies who and where the country’s poor are located—should be the first to be selected by the government to avoid crowding the list of TES beneficiaries.

The Senate Committee on Basic Education had earlier flagged the jam-packed list of TES recipients which is not consistent with the intention of the free higher education law.

Under the TES program, beneficiaries are granted additional funding for education-related costs, including books, transportation, board and lodging, and allowances for disability-related expenses, among others.

“We observed that for TES grantees, beneficiaries from places where there are no State Colleges and Universities or SUCs and Local Universities and Colleges or LUCs are slowly eating up the share of the Listahanan grantees,” Gatchalian said during his interpellation on the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) budget for 2024.

“We aim to reverse this trend and stay true to the spirit of the law, wherein the Listahanan beneficiaries and low-income families will be prioritized,” he said.

As of the 2nd semester of Academic Year (AY) 2022-2023, 79 percent of TES grantees are students from areas with no SUCs and LUCs; only 21 percent were from Listahanan, while zero percent from the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) beneficiaries.

In 2018, 68 percent of TES grantees were from Listahanan, 25 percent were from areas with no SUCs and LUCs, and three percent were from 4Ps beneficiaries.

The Senate Committee on Finance accepted Gatchalian’s amendment on Special Provision No. 3 of CHED’s proposed 2024 budget.

The amended special provision now stipulates that in the selection of new TES grantees, the Unified Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education (UniFAST) shall prioritize students under Listahanan 2.0 and students who are not part of such list but are from low-income households.

In Gatchalian’s proposal, these students will be required to submit proof of income to UniFAST, whose board administers the TES.

The senator said the intention of Section 7 of the Free College law will be strengthened and reaffirmed through this special provision he wishes to be introduced.

Related Tags

Sherwin Gatchalian free college education Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES)
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