Commission on Higher Education (Ched) chief Patricia Licuanan. PHOTO FROM CHED’S FACEBOOK ACCOUNT
The Commission on Higher Education (Ched) announced on Tuesday that it will provide P300 million financial grant to higher education institutions (HEIs) for creative projects designed to mainstream cultural education and appreciation in higher education.
Ched Chair Patricia Licuanan said the “Salikha” creative grant, in cooperation with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), marks the first time the Commission is offering grants exclusively to the development of Philippine culture and the arts in higher education.
“We are making unprecedented investments in the creative capabilities of our faculty to improve instruction and learning in the arts, culture, humanities, and social sciences. By enhancing content and pedagogy, we hope to deepen cultural knowledge and nurture pride in showcasing the unique Filipino identity,” Licuanan said in a statement.
The “Salikha” creative grants are open to HEIs with teaching and non-teaching staff affected by the K to 12 program implementation, as part of Ched’s role to provide financial support and capability development during the transition period.
Creative outputs, according to Ched, can be in the form of arts research, architecture, cinema, dance, dramatic arts, literary arts, music, visual arts, and creative industries, among others.
The total grant per approved project may vary from P500,000 to P10 million, depending on the type and scale of the project, as well as the capability of the institutions to implement it. The outputs produced must also be commensurate to the size of grant provided, the Commission said.
Licuanan added that the project is in line with President Rodrigo Duterte’s national road map to promote the creative arts and utilize higher education as a force for social and cultural transformation, as stated under the Philippine Development Plan 2017 to 2022.
“Through Salikha, it is our hope that we inspire more members of the academe to engage in research of creative work and further promote our rich and diverse culture. And we cannot be more thankful to our partners in NCCA for helping us towards this end,” the chairperson said. IDL