SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian wants students from low-income households, including those under the government’s Listahan 2.0 scheme, to be prioritized as beneficiaries of the Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES).
TES is under the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act (Republic Act No. 10931), also called the Free Higher Education Law.
Listahanan is an information management setup that identifies who and where the country’s poor are located.
Gatchalian previously flagged the crowding out of students from low-income households in the pool of TES beneficiaries, which he said is not consistent with the intention of the free higher education law.
He pointed out that TES provides additional funding for education-related costs, including books, transportation, board and lodging, and allowances for disability-related expenses, among others.
“We observed that for TES grantees, beneficiaries from places where there are no state colleges and universities or SUCs and local universities and colleges or LUCs are slowly eating up the share of the Listahanan grantees,” said Gatchalian.
“We aim to reverse this trend and stay true to the spirit of the law, wherein the Listahanan beneficiaries and low-income families will be prioritized,” he added.
As of the 2nd semester of Academic Year (AY) 2022-2023, 79 percent of TES grantees were students from areas with no SUCs and LUCs, leaving only 21 percent from the Listahanan, and nothing from Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) beneficiaries.
In 2018, 68 percent of TES grantees were from the Listahanan, 25 percent were from areas with no SUCs and LUCs, and 3 percent were from 4Ps beneficiaries.
The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program provides conditional cash grants to the poorest of the poor, to improve the health, nutrition, and the education of children aged 0-18.
The Senate Committee on Finance has accepted an amendment that Gatchalian proposed on Special Provision No. 3 of CHED’s proposed 2024 budget.
The amended provision stipulates that in the selection of new TES grantees, the Unified Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education (UniFAST) will prioritize students under Listahanan 2.0, and students from low-income households who are not part of Listahanan 2.0.
These students will be required to submit proof of income to UniFAST, whose board administers the TES.
Through this special provision, Gatchalian seeks to reaffirm the intention of Section 7 of the free higher education law.