CHED extends deadline of scholarship applications for teachers

Senator Ralph Recto. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has extended for another week the April 1 deadline given to teachers displaced by the K to 12 basic education program to apply for the government-funded scholarship program for higher education degrees, Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto said on Wednesday.

Recto said the CHED announced that the deadline for teachers’ application for the scholarship program will be moved from April 1 to April 8 this year.

“I commend the CHED for heeding the demand of the times. The extension provides a breather for private college teachers who would otherwise face low or loss of income during the K to 12 transition period,” he said in a statement on Wednesday.

It was Recto, who earlier called on the CHED to extend by two weeks, or up to April 15, the April 1 deadline for application to the “Graduate Education Scholarships for Faculty and Staff Development in the K to 12 Transition Period.”

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Because of the K to 12 program, the senator said that college enrollment will go down this June as Grade 10 students are retained in schools for two more years of senior high school. This prompted the government to package a multi-billion-peso bridge financing program for affected personnel.

Recto said the scholarships and other K to 12 transition programs in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are funded by a P5.27 billion allocation authorized in the 2016 national budget.

A CHED infographic, however, pegged at P8.28 billion the total budget for K to 12 related programs and projects it would implement this year.

Of this amount, P3 billion will be sourced from travel tax collections and state lotto earnings, pooled under the off-budget Higher Education Development Fund (HEDF), while P2.275 billion is appropriated in the CHED budget for the provision of scholarship to faculty members and HEI administrators.

Recto pointed out that under the program, full scholarships for master’s and doctoral degrees are being offered to faculty and staff during the transition period.

Scholarships for master’s and doctoral programs in selected foreign schools, he said, are also offered as well as grants for thesis and dissertation writing, professional advancement, and post-doctoral fellowships.

Faculty scholars who qualify under the scholarship will receive a package consisting of tuition and fees, monthly stipend, book allowance, transportation allowance, thesis and dissertation allowance, and group insurance, said the senator.

According to the guidelines, the stipend for those who qualify for scholarships for the master’s degree is P20,000 per month, while successful applicants for the doctoral program will receive a monthly allowance of P28,000.

There is also a thesis or dissertation allowance for master’s and doctoral programs in the amount of P50,000 and P100,000, respectively. For those studying outside their province, a transportation allowance of P10,000 a year will be given.

Recto said the scholarship program has two primary goals — mitigate impact on labor of the K to 12 program and to upgrade qualifications of faculty.

“If these are the objectives, then we should accommodate as many applicants as we can,” the senator added. JE