By
Pamela Mariz Geminiano
BAGUIO
CITY — Around 30,000 poor members of Indigenous Peoples (IPs) or Igorots in
Cordillera will benefit from the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education
Act of 2017, the regional office of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED)
has said.
CHED-Cordillera Officer-In-Charge Ma. Geraldine
Casipit said in an interview Republic Act 10931, also known as the Universal
Access to Quality Tertiary Education, will benefit the six major State
Universities and Colleges in the region.
Benefitting from the program are the Ifugao
State University in Ifugao; Mountain Province State Polytechnic College in
Bontoc, Mountain Province; Kalinga State University in Tabuk City, Kalinga;
Benguet State University in La Trinidad, Benguet; Abra State Institute of
Science and Technology in Bangued, Abra; and Apayao State College in Apayao
province.
Locals who are financially incapable of going
to the cities to study opt to go to the state schools in their hometowns.With
the new law, Casipit noted, poor locals need not sell their families' farms
anymore just to get a college degree.
“Sa ilang taon kong pag-stay dito sa
Cordillera, napansin ko kasi na napakaraming miyembro ng IP dito sa Cordillera
nangangailangan ng tulong pinansyal. Sa sobrang kahirapan, hindi sila
makapag-aral. Pero sa initiative ni Pangulong Duterte, marami talaga
ang matutulungan (In my several years of stay here in Cordillera, I've
noticed there are lots of IP members, who need financial assistance. Because of
extreme poverty, they cannot go to school. But with the initiative of President
Duterte, a lot of them will get help),” Casipit said.
She said at least 5,000 students would be
accommodated in each of the state colleges and universities in the region, but
on certain conditions.
“Per SUC, may estimated tayong
5,000 na students, pero flexible yan gaya ng sabi ko kanina, kasi naka depende
yan sastudents na makakapasa sa admission
policies ng mga SUCs natin, at syempre sa carrying
capacity. (For each SUC, we estimate about 5,000 student beneficiaries, but
like I said, that is subject to change, depending on the students passing the
admission requirements and the SUC's carrying capacity.) Students also need to
comply with the retention policy,” Casipit explained.
She said the government project gives poor
members of the IP get an education for a brighter future.
She
added the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is coming up with
a list of students, who could avail of the free college education.
“They will be checking the enrollees and make
sure that those who can avail are classified as poorest of the poor,” she said.
“We are appealing to our media partners and friends to help us disseminate this
information, to help us inform the lower class of our society that they can go
to school despite their poverty.”
Last
week, the organization Student Financial Assistance System (UniFAST) did an
information caravan in the city to inform the public of the free college
education in SUCs.
Lawyer Carmelita Yadao-Sison, UniFAST
officer-in-charge, said earlier there are 112 SUCs and 78 Local Universities
and Colleges (LUCs) all over the country, but the priority of the law are the
poor students in SUCs.
LUCs
are CHED-recognized higher education institutions established by the local
government units.
Casipit said the national government has
allotted PHP40 billion for the implementation of the free college education in
SUCs, but the actual allocation would depend on the number of the enrollees who
pass the admission policy of each SUCs.
In his recent visit in Mountain Province as
guest speaker at the 47th commencement exercises of the Mountain Province State
Polytechnic College (MPSPC), Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque informed
parents that President Rodrigo Duterte had ordered the allocation of funds for
the free college education in SUCs. The fund will cover the tuition as well as
the miscellaneous fees of the students. -- PNA
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