CHED budget cuts to affect subsidies, scholarships for faculty, med students

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) sees no additional Tunong Dunong beneficiaries, no new scholarship grants for faculty members under the K-12 Transition program, and no new medical student scholars next year after the agency received zero allocations for these programs under the 2020 National Expenditure Program (NEP).

CHED chair Prospero De Vera III revealed this on Tuesday during the budget presentation of the agency before the House Committee on Appropriations.

CHED presents its budget proposal before the House Committee on Appropriations. @gmanews pic.twitter.com/XVuDryNQcP

— Erwin Colcol (@erwincolcol) September 10, 2019

According to De Vera, there was no appropriation for next year for the Tunong Dunong program, which grants qualified student beneficiaries a maximum of P12,000 per academic year to help them finance their studies.

"A provision was put in the GAA (General Appropriations Act) that the new Tulong Dunong scholars on their second year are automatically covered by the Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES). We accept that responsibility. So starting their second year, they become TES beneficiaries," De Vera.

"But there is no allocation for new Tulong Dunong scholars. So that is the biggest change in the budget," he added.

At the same time, De Vera said the budget for the K-12 Transition program was likewise slashed, amounting to P600 million.

"This means we will not be able to get new scholars from our faculty members. I don't know if we will be able to sustain those who are already enrolled. But clearly we will not be able to get new scholars for the faculty members in our HEIs," he said.

De Vera also said that the number of TES beneficiaries will likewise be reduced after the budget for the implementation of RA 10931, Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, was also slashed by 16.78%, equivalent to P7.1 billion.

TES beneficiaries enrolled in public universities get P40,000 per year which they can use for books, transportation, supplies, room and board fees and other school-related expenses.

According to De Vera, CHED is only allowed to reduce the allocation for TES if the funding for RA 10931 is slashed. But since Tulong Dunong beneficiaries will also be covered by the TES by their second year, their capacity to accept more TES beneficiaries will be limited.

"We will have to scale that down to less than 300,000 in 2020. We will not have enough space for new TES beneficiaries if we do that," he said.

"It simply means that maybe the number of new TES beneficiaries for incoming freshmen that we can accept will be equivalent only to those who graduated. Other than that, we will have no flexibility. So that is the practical impact of the allocation," he added.

Moreover, De Vera said there is no allocation in the 2020 NEP for the scholarship of medical students.

Atty. Carmelita Yadao-Sison, officer-in-charge of the Unified Student Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education, said CHED will be needing an additional P10 billion in its appropriations for next year to fund the programs that will be affected by the budget cuts.

This includes the budget for TES (P8.54 billion), the K-12 Transition program (P680 million), and scholarship for medical students (P167 million).

Cagayan De Oro City Representative Rufus Rodriguez said he will move for the restoration of these allocations in the budget of CHED for next year.

"In the proper time, I'm not only going to move for the approval of the CHED budget but with the realignment and the augmentation of P10 billion for the entire CHED," he said. —KG, GMA News