An alternative pathway to earning undergraduate and graduate degrees is now closer to becoming a law after it was passed on third and final reading in the Senate on Monday.
Senate Bill No. 2568, sponsored by Senate President Francis Escudero, aims to institutionalize the Expanded Tertiary Education Equivalency and Accreditation Program or ETEEAP.
Escudero, who was then chairperson of the Committee on Higher, Technical, and Vocational Education, said: “By granting them an alternative pathway to earn an appropriate academic degree, this program contributes to the career advancement of Filipino professionals.
Senator Joel Villanueva, who also sponsored the measure and later defended the bill during interpellation, 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.
To qualify for the ETEEAP, the applicant must be a Filipino citizen residing in the Philippines or abroad, at least 23 years of age and with at least five years of aggregate work experience.
The applicants should also complete secondary education as evidenced by a high school diploma, or a result of the Philippine Educational Placement Test or Alternative Learning System Accreditation and Equivalency Assessment and Certification, stating that the individual concerned is qualified to enter college.
The applicant may also submit 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 (NCs) or Certificates of Competency issued by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).
The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) shall be the lead agency in the implementation of the provisions of this Act and shall deputize colleges and universities that seek to offer the ETEEAP as part of their academic program.
The CHED is also directed to discharge additional powers and functions, which include: deputizing higher education institutions (HEIs) to offer ETEEAP; working with government agencies to determine priority programs; convening inter-agency consultations for policy implementation; and allocating student financial assistance programs to ETEEAP learners.
The HEIs to be deputized shall develop clear policies and procedures for ETEEAP implementation and shall convene a panel of internal and external assessors, which shall determine the appropriate equivalency credits acquired by an applicant.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline “Senate passes bill that seeks alternative pathways to earning college degrees.”
