MANILA, Philippines- Hiniling ni Senior Deputy Minority Leader at Northern Samar Rep. Paul Daza sa Commission on Higher Education (CHED) at sa Department of Budget and Management (DBM) na pondohan ang Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act.
Ayon kay Daza ang pagpapatupad ng Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act ang isa sa landmark laws ni dating Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte at malaki ang naging kapakinabangan nito kaya naman nakapaghihinayang kung hindi ito maipagpatuloy.
“It took a very strong political will to be able to enact a law like this. As far as we know, there are less than 30 countries in the world where there is free tertiary education—and many are in developed and upper-middle income countries. We are among the luckiest, so to speak. However, it seems we are wasting this golden opportunity,” pahayag ni Daza.
Ang apela ay ginawa ni Daza matapos aminin ni Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) Region 1 Director Danilo Bose na walang pondo para sa Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES) beneficiaries dahil hindi ito naipabilang sa General Appropriations Act (GAA) ng 2021, 2022 at 2023.
Lumilitaw din na ang bayarin ng CHED para sa TES sa ibat ibang private schools ay nasa P6 Billion.
“Do we really have to wait for these schools to close down before deciding to pay them?” ani Daza.
Sinabi ni Daza na lumabas sa pagdinig ng Kamara na ang Higher Education Development Fund (HEDF) ay mayroong hindi nagastos na pondo na P10.1 billion, mungkahi ng mambabatas na gamitin ang pondo ng HEDF para sa TES na sinang-ayunan ng CHED.
Samantala, nababahala si Daza sa mataas na attrition rate o mga estudyante na hindi itinutuloy ang kanilang pag-aaral, sa datos ng CHED, sa school year 2017-2021 ay nasa 47.61 percent sa lahat ng Higher Education Institution categories (State, Local, and Private).
“Nakakapanghinayang at nakakalungkot. We have the funds to change this. The question now is, does CHEd and DBM have the will to do what must be done? They have the power to utilize the HEDF. They could have done so sooner,” paliwanag ni Daza.
Umaasa si Daza na agad babayaran ng CHED at DBM ang mga partner school nito para sa free tertiary education.
“I’m calling on DBM and the economic managers to immediately reimburse the private colleges as many are in danger of closing and to augment the CHEd TES for the 2024 budget year,” pagtatapos pa ni Daza.
Tiniyak ng mambabatas na ang isyu ng free tertiary education ay kanyang igigiit sa oras na matalakay ng Kamara ang 2024 budget pagdating ng Agosto 2023. Gail Mendoza
