Youth solon pushes for free higher education

Youth solon pushes for free higher education (Photo: KABATAAN PARTYLIST/facebook)

MANILA—A measure seeking to grant free college education in all public higher education institutions was filed on Monday at the House of Representatives.

Kabataan Partylist Rep. Sarah Elago authored House Bill No. 4800 or the “Comprehensive Free Public Education Bill” following a series of consultations with student leaders and youth organizations across the country.

“This bill seeks to address the cumulative effect of decades of neoliberal restructuring in education that left Filipino students and their families heavily burdened, with most opting to drop out of school due to the prohibitive cost it entails,” Elago said.

One of the salient provisions of the bill is the abolition of the tuition system.

Instead of having a separate fund to pay for the equivalent tuition and other school fee rates of students, the bill seeks to finance the actual “cost of attendance” of students, the total amount a particular state-run university or college needs to provide education for a student per year, including proportional cost per student for personnel services, maintenance and other operating expenses and capital outlay.

The total projected cost of attendance will become the primary determinant of a state-run university or college’s annual funding from the government and shall also serve as guide for the Executive Department in preparing the annual national expenditure program.

The bill also creates a special grant for financially-disadvantaged students, which covers the allowance for books, transportation, school supplies, and other miscellaneous personal expenses, as well as room and board costs incurred by the student.

The proposal also introduces a nationalist, scientific, and mass-oriented higher education curriculum that will be responsive to the needs and the goals of the nation.

“This bill stands to benefit not only the 1.6 million currently enrolled in SUCs (state universities and colleges), but also million others who will be able to enter college without fearing the heavy costs,” Elago said.

“At a more fundamental level, the passage of this bill will also result in the reversal of decades of attacks on the right of every Filipino to education,” she added.