CHED wants more underprivileged students in SUCs

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) will recommend steps to state universities and colleges (SUCs) on how to run their student admissions in a way that guarantees greater access to students from underprivileged families.

CHED yesterday unveiled a P15-million study to be conducted individually by the Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University, Samar State University and University of Southern Mindanao which is expected to help SUCs craft admission policies that “ensure that there is a fair representation of disadvantaged students in higher education.”

Each university, which will serve as study sites, will also gather data to determine appropriate student support services that will respond to their needs to ensure that they can stay in school and finish their studies to lower the attrition rate in tertiary education, according to CHED chairman J. Prospero de Vera III.

The latest CHED data pegged that at least three in every 10 students leave school temporarily or permanently mainly due to financial difficulties, family problems, relocation, medical or mental health concerns and academic difficulties.

“When this study is finished, its findings will be presented to the different boards of SUCs so that they can act in revising their admission policies so that they become more inclusive,” De Vera said at a press conference yesterday.

The CHED chief acknowledged that admission policies of SUCs have been a problem for “quite some time” as these remain skewed in favor of children who come from privileged households, especially in sought-after institutions like the University of the Philippines and Polytechnic University of the Philippines.