Senate OKs bill to institutionalize expanded tertiary education program

The Senate building at the GSIS Complex in Pasay City. (Photo by LYN RILLON / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines — A bill seeking to institutionalize the Expanded Tertiary Education Equivalency and Accreditation Program (ETEEAP) hurdled the Senate’s third and final reading on Monday.

Senate Bill No. 2568, during the chamber’s plenary session, gained 23 affirmative, zero negative votes, and zero abstentions.

Following the approval of the measure, Sen. Joel Villanueva, one of the bill’s sponsors, stood up to explain his vote

In his short manifestation, Villanueva said the intent of the measure “is to allow and empower persons who had to start working immediately, to be able to have their working experiences and prior learnings recognized and given equivalent credits for tertiary education.”

“The bill institutionalizes the ETEEAP, which assesses and assigns appropriate equivalency credits for learnings and experience leading towards the grant of an appropriate academic degree,” Villanueva said.

Qualifications for ETEEAP cover the following:

• Must be a Filipino citizen
• At least 23 years old
• With at least five years of work experience

Interested applicants who wish to qualify may submit a documentation of relevant training programs and other proof of formal, non-formal, and informal learning, as may be required by the deputized higher educational institution including, but not limited to, National Certificates or Certificates of Competency issued by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.