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| Sen.Ralph Recto / photo file (ctto) |
Senate President Pro Tempore
Ralph Recto on Friday was alarmed over the P11.6-billion cut made in the budget
of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) for 2020.
He said hundreds of thousands of college students might be displaced with the
reduction in the budget of the CHED.
Recto said in a statement, the CHED budget was cut 23 percent
lower than last year, which only amounting to P40.784 billion, compared to its
last year’s budget of P52.43 billion.
Recto pointed out that the chunk of the CHED
budget, or about 80 percent of its annual budget, is set for the implementation
of the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary
Education (UAQTE) also known as Republic Act
10931.
RA 10931
which gave students in state universities and colleges (SUCs) free tuition
fees, among other programs or the Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES)
The UAQTE budget for 2019 was given P42.5
billion to benefit 708,993 students, beneficiaries in five major assistance programs
However, the proposed UAQTE
budget for 2020 is only P35.36 billion, or P7.12 billion less for this year,
according to Recto.
He added that on top of this
deduction, is the obliteration of P2.6 billion for the Tulong Dunong Program.
“Hundreds of thousands of college students are
in danger of ending their studies if the plan to slash the CHED’s 2020 budget
by P11.6 billion for next year pushes through,” Recto
said in a statement.
“Instead of diplomas, the government will be
handing out dismissal slips. The budget cut for tertiary education is a ticket
to a forced vacation for many public and private college students,” Recto said
“Okay lang sana kung hindi pa sila naka-enroll
sa kolehiyo; kung papasok pa lang. Pero karamihan naka-enrol na, prodded by a
government guarantee that if they study hard and maintain good grades, they can
keep the scholarship,” he added.
Recto said, CHED needs to restore
the budget cut, as the continued schooling of 175,260 students under the
Student Financial Assistance Program, 1,932 medical scholars, and between
115,352 to 199,920 students who benefit from the TES would be in peril.
“There are no easy solutions to this problem of
underfunding. Congress is not a mint that can just print money. But by raising
this issue, I hope that both houses will find ways on how to maintain the
funding status quo,” he added.
Source: Politiko, Manila Bulletin
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