Gatchalian tags P6.6-B college fund for 4Ps as priority in amendments

College students at the University of the Philippines (INQUIRER file photo)

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) sought over P6.6 billion to cover the tuition of qualified college students under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) as part of its “wishlist.”

CHED chairperson Shirley Agrupis made the request during Friday’s Senate finance committee hearing which tackled the P33.9 billion proposed budget of the commission.

Panel chairperson Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said the tuition of qualified 4Ps students should be tagged as priority during the budget amendments in the Senate plenary.

97% of Ched’s budget for scholarships alone

Of CHED’s P33.9 billion budget under the National Expenditure Program (NEP), 97 percent or P32.1 billion is solely allotted for its scholarship program under the Unified Student Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education (Unifast).

But it’s still not enough.

Agrupis laid out the commission’s P8.6 billion “wishlist” for tertiary education subsidy outside NEP, including the P6.6 billion that would benefit 490,315 more indigent college recipients under 4Ps.

Aside from the qualified 4Ps members, CHED is also seeking a P2 billion fund for the recipients of continuing Tulong Dunong Program (TDP), which has 135,792 beneficiaries.

The TDP partially covers the tuition of qualified college students.

READ: CHEd questioned over P8 billion in unutilized funds from 2019-2022

“It is clear that—for me—we need to prioritize the 4Ps,” Gatchalian said.

“If we will make an amendment, we should prioritize the P6.6 billion. Because if not, we will displace 490,315 children—that’s one of the priorities that we want to emphasize,” he noted.

If granted, CHED will be able provide a P27,000 tuition subsidy for 490,315 college students under 4Ps.

Also, Agrupis asked Gatchalian if those items under the continuing TDP program can be included, to which the senator agreed.

“If there is excess funds, we need to fund the continuing TDP. Because if we did not fund that, what is the likelihood that they would drop out?” he asked.

Private university students also in need

Of the 135,792 students under the tertiary education scholarship program, 78,792 are from public schools while around 57,000 are enrolled in private schools, according to Septon dela Cruz, executive director of Unifast.

Sen. Bam Aquino said the students in private universities should also be covered by the tertiary education program.

“It’s not bad to give assistance to the children under SUCs (State Universities and Colleges) and LUCs (Local Universities and Colleges) and the children who are in need in private universities,” Aquino said.

In line with this, the senator said CHED should make clear guidelines on this.

“For me, personally, let’s make the guidance simple: As long as you are enrolled in SUC and LUCs, you can avail,” Aquino said. “On private schools, I leave it to CHED.” /apl