TACLOBAN CITY, (PNA) — The P5 billion budget for the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) in 2014 intended for scholarships and financial assistance to students would solve the dilemma of scholars where they can get free or subsidized education provided for by congressmen through the scrapped Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).
This was the view of Leyte Vice Gov. Carlo Loreto adding that this would further strengthen the country’s human resource who are equally important in the pursuit of more economic and academic development in the country.
“This is actually good since we would be investing in our human resource. We cannot compete globally if our human resource is left behind,” Loreto said.
Loreto, who sits in the Board of Regents of the Leyte Normal University (LNU) said, it would be better if the scholarships would be geared towards courses in entrepreneurship and research.
“We are very far behind in the ranking of the education system in the world because for our lack in research works and studies. This may be one field where we can pour in scholarships and become competitive,” Loreto added.
Under the Special Provisions of the 2014 National Expenditure Program, SUCs are allocated P5 billion, where P2.5 billion would be for scholarships, while another P2.5 billion would be allocated for capital outlay.
Scholarships would target key growth areas aligned with the priorities of the government, such as semiconductor and electronics, business process outsourcing, tourism, agriculture and fisheries, general infrastructure, and other priority manufacturing industries.
It was learned that this budged is aimed at further improving the quality of the country’s tertiary education system through the provision of key services and facilities to our students and CHED would determine the allocations for SUCs nationwide, based on how they’ve fulfilled their objectives under the roadmap.
By defining major initiatives and tangible outputs, the roadmap will help SUCs prime their students to join the workforce and respond to the manpower demands of fast-growing industries.
State education reforms are part of the Aquino administration’s agenda for promoting the enhancement of the country’s workforce, creating more employment opportunities for the country’s expanding pool of skilled graduates, and facilitating long-term and inclusive growth.