Senator Nancy Binay has called on the Commission on Higher Education to clarify its rules and regulations on its free tuition policy in state colleges and universities, which she described “vague.”
While Ched and the Department of Budget and Management released in April a joint memorandum circular guiding the grant of free tuition to SUCs for 2017, Binay said it was not clear whether there will be a full or partial subsidy.
“Ched’s memo regarding free tuition for SUCs is unclear. Our call is for them to immediately clarify this, especially now that enrollment period is over in many SUCs,” Binay said.
The senator made the appeal following the decision of the University of the Philippines-Diliman to temporarily stop collecting tuition for the first semester until the government makes clear its plan on free education.
“With the high tuition fee in UPD now, it is not clear if the free tuition policy will cover the entire P1,500 per unit cost, considering that around 16,000 are undergraduates here,” Binay said.
Binay is strongly pushing for the continued funding of free tuition in state universities and colleges nationwide.
She said the P8-billion appropriation for free college education is “a great first step,” but added that more work needs to be done to secure a yearly funding for the program.
“We will continuously work for the realization of free tertiary education for all, especially now that Senate Bill 1304, or the free higher education for all act, is up for the President’s signature,” she said.