350,000 students at risk of losing scholarship under proposed 2019 budget

At least 350,000 students are at risk of losing their state-funded scholarships next year, Commissioner Prospero de Vera III of the Commission on Higher Education said Tuesday.

De Vera said this is because the Department of Budget and Management reduced the allocation for CHED’s Tulong Dunong program, a needs-based scholarship for students, from P4.19 billion this year to P1.19 billion in 2019 or a 251 percent decrease.

Under the Tulong Dunong program, each student enrolled in either a public or private university as recommended by the local government and local officials will be granted P12,000 worth of financial assistance in a year.

“More or less, the number of students affected is 350,000. That (reduction) is okay as far as [scholars from] public universities is concerned [because of the Free College Education law], but as for those enrolled in private universities, then there is no more subsidy going to them,” de Vera said.

He then noted that CHED is hopeful that the affected beneficiaries of Tulong Dunong program will find refuge in the P16 billion worth of Tertiary Education System (TES) program which provides assistance not only in terms of tuition and other school fees but also of living allowance and school supplies such as books, among others.

The students eligible for TES program are:

• those enrolled in 112 SUCs, 78-CHED recognized LCUs and quality-assured programs in private higher educational institutions in the first semester of academic year 2018 to 2019;
• the children of households belonging to Conditional Cash Transfer Program;
• those residing and staying in private higher educational institutions in cities and municipalities where there is no existing SUC or LCUs; and
• those with certificate of indigency.

The TES program provides a government subsidy of P40,000 a year to each scholar  enrolled in a public university and P60,000 a year to each scholar studying in a private school.

De Vera, however, admitted that the TES program cannot accommodate all Tulong Dunong beneficiaries since the TES only offers 300,000 slots.

“A lot of students will fight for their slot in such situation. Remember, the beneficiaries of Tulong Dunong may not be under the poorest [segment] unlike those under CCT, but many of them are in a situation wherein their only shot at having college education is being under the scholarship,” de Vera added. —KG, GMA News