CHED: No budget cut in free college education

MANILA, Philippines — Funding for the implementation of the free higher education law will not suffer a decrease in the proposed 2019 budget, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) clarified yesterday.

CHED officer-in-charge J. Prospero de Vera III belied reports that the allocation for the implementation of the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act next year will suffer “massive cuts” in next year’s budget.

“The proposed 2019 National Expenditure Program will add an additional P11 billion for the free higher education program,” De Vera said.

“The increased funding will allow the CHED and the Unified Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education to continue to provide free tuition, miscellaneous and other school-related fees to students in 112 state universities and colleges and 78 CHED-recognized local universities and colleges,” he added.

Part of the allocation will also be used in the implementation of the Tertiary Education Subsidy and National Student Loan Program.

Another P7 billion will be given directly to the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority to provide free technical-vocational education and training to qualified Filipinos, according to De Vera.

While there is no impending budget decrease for free higher education, De Vera earlier told lawmakers that the proposed cash-based budgeting system of the Department of Budget and Management may have an impact on the implementation of the law.

He noted that the fiscal year is different from the school year, and that CHED may have a problem in reimbursing for the second semester if the funds would be available only until December.

The CHED official said there will also be cuts for some of its student aid programs, including the subsidy for medical students and rebel returnees that receive no allocation at all.

Students who would suffer most are those enrolled in private schools as they would not be able to benefit much from the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education, he said.