Press Release
October 11, 2016

EDUCENTRIC SENATORS PUSH FOR QUALITY EDUCATION FOR THE POOR

Senators Sonny Angara, Miguel Zubiri, Joel Villanueva, JV Ejercito and Sherwin Gatchalian, who are advocates of educational reform, pressed education authorities to prioritize the poorest of the poor when it comes to access to quality education--which, they said, can be a tool to fight poverty.

Angara, who presided Tuesday's budget hearing of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and state universities and colleges (SUCs), urged the government to create schools accommodating indigenous peoples and the marginalized sectors, who remain among the poorest and most disadvantaged Filipinos in the country.

"IPs deserve the same opportunity to study as the citizens in more populated areas. The government must establish schools tailor-fit for IPs--adjusting to their customs and making sure the schools are located closer to the areas where they live. Creating such schools is relevant for most regions in the country," said Angara, vice chairman of the finance committee.

A recent study showed that only two percent of the total 14 million IP population graduate from college, and only 11 percent complete secondary education. "This cannot go on," Angara stressed.

"The government grants scholarships to our IPs and marginalized sectors but their dropout rate is still high. In a highly unequal society like ours, education allows equal chances for all to have a better life," he added.

Meanwhile, Zubiri directed the CHED to build extension campuses of SUCs in the poorest communities and adopt a radical tuition scheme for the poor.

Zubiri identified provinces with high poverty incidence and where, he said, satellite campuses should be established. These include Lanao del Sur, Sulu, Saranggani, Bukidnon, Siquijor, Northern Samar, Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat, Samboanga del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Negros Oriental, Western Samar, North Cotabato, Lanao del Norte, Mt. Province, Eastern Samar, Camiguin, Catanduanes, Leyte, Apayao, Camarines Norte, Zamboanga Sibugay, Sorsogon.

"We should set up tuition rates similar to the UP STFAP model in all SUCs nationwide. It works on a pay according to ability principle, so that more students can benefit from tuition-free education. Many would grant tuition scholarships only for the deserving, or those earning high grades. That old scheme leaves out many students who need the most help which often get average to poor grades due to various reasons. We want to help as many as we can," Zubiri said.

Alongside these, Villanueva asked the CHED to increase the number of SUCs offering technical vocational courses that would help poor students secure a job immediately.

"Tech-voc education is crucial in the country's supply of high-quality, skilled workers. Tech-voc graduates land in jobs at once, especially those in occupations that are in-demand. These are tangible results that show bright prospects for graduates of tech-voc," said Villanueva, chairman of the labor committee and former director general of Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.

Gatchalian, for his part, is the author of the Free Higher Education Act seeking to provide free education in all SUCs and allotting P10.5 billion from the Presidential Social Fund to subsidize free education.

Moreover, Ejercito asked the CHED to promote agriculture and fisheries courses to the youth.

"No one wants to pursue these courses anymore considering that agriculture is the lifeblood of our economy. Philippines is an agricultural country but the younger generation has no interest in farming or agriculture. Farmville nalang ba ang alam ng ating mga kabataan ngayon?" Ejercito said.

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