Free higher education law implemented this year

MANILA, Philippines — Amid concerns over the delay in the release of the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) for the free higher education law, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) yesterday vowed to fully implement the policy in state-funded colleges and universities this year.

CHED officer-in-charge J. Prospero de Vera said they have approved and would soon release the final version of the IRR of the Universal Access to Quality Higher Education law.

“The UniFAST (Unified Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education) board will soon publish the enhanced IRR of Republic Act 10931 to fully implement this law which includes free higher education, free technical vocational education and training, tertiary education subsidy and the student loan program,” he said, referring to the board that will be in charge of implementing the policy.

De Vera said the primary features of the law, which include the subsidy for students in private schools and the student loan program, would be implemented in the coming school year.

“We will implement short-term loans this year, then long-term loans next year. Negotiations with banks are are still ongoing,” he told The STAR.

The government has allocated P40 billion this year for the implementation of the free higher education law that intends to remove all fees in public tertiary institutions in the country. It also aims to provide support to students in private colleges and universities through scholarships and loans.

Earlier, a coalition of student organizations advocating free education in the country called on CHED to immediately release the IRR to end the atmosphere of uncertainty among students.

“They could not make us blind forever. The fate of millions lie in the transparency and sincerity of the CHED to provide universal access to college education for all Filipino youth as the law claims to provide,” said Free Eduk Watch convenor Shara Landicho.

She also urged CHED to release the list of local colleges and universities (LUCs) that will benefit from the law, saying many students are still unsure whether they will be covered by the free tertiary education promised by the Duterte administration.

While it covers all state universities and colleges (SUCs) nationwide, the law provides that only the LUCs accredited by CHED will be able to implement free higher education to students.

The latest data from the commission showed only 23 out of 118 LUCs are accredited to implement the law, according to Free Eduk Watch.

The group also slammed the restrictions that will be implemented, including requirements to pass the entrance and retention policies and finish the degree one year after the prescribed period.

“These restrictions run smack against the very name of the law which professes to provide universal access but discriminates against community colleges that the CHED allowed to exist in the first place. Why are they making the poor students pay for their neglect,” said Free Eduk Watch.

“Most colleges will commence accepting new enrollees as early as April but many remain reluctant since the CHED has made the atmosphere ‘discouraging’ for poor students to inquire in the university of their choice,” it claimed.

Free tuition budget

De Vera said SUCs that have implemented free tuition policy this school year have started receiving the reimbursement from CHED that was funded through the P8.3-billion allocation in the 2017 budget.

The CHED official said they have downloaded P3 billion to almost all SUCs as reimbursement for the waived tuition for the first semester of academic year 2017-2018.

De Vera said the free tuition covered 888,799 students.

“Almost all of the 112 SUCs have received their financial reimbursements for free tuition 2017 based on their Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing submitted to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) in 2016,” he said.

“Only two SUCs – Tawi Tawi Regional Agricultural College and Romblon State University – have not received their reimbursement for failure to submit necessary documents in compliance with the joint guidelines issued by the DBM and CHED in 2017,” he added.

De Vera said CHED is currently processing billings for payment to all SUCs for their second semester enrolment.