SAMAHAN ng Progresibong Kabataan (Spark) denounces the Commission on Higher Education’s hesitance to support the establishment of three State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) in the Dinagat Islands, the Province of Basilan, and Sarangani, three of the poorest provinces in the country which all the more needs education to promote social and economic mobility.
This comes at a time when more and more Filipino students are dropping out of school due to social and economic reasons and are denied access to education by a government that lacks the political will to resolve the education crisis. Ched Executive Director Atty. Benitez-Jaro said that while Ched “expressed support” for the bills, “massive funding will be required from the government in order to put up school buildings, hiring of teaching and non-teaching personnel, library and laboratory equipment.”
Of course, constructing new SUCs will require funding from the government. The role of the government is to provide free, accessible, quality, safe, and inclusive education to all Filipinos, as provided in Article XIV of the Constitution. However, the budget allocation for the education sector stands at 3.6% of the GDP, far below the 6% United Nations pre-pandemic prescription.
Ched contradicts its very purpose, its own mandate. Their reluctance to even consider building SUCs in the provinces of Sarangani, Basilan, and the Dinagat Islands, to provide education to geographically isolated, and long-neglected, Filipinos, shows their unwillingness to fulfill their mandate to the Filipino people.
Jaro, as Ched executive director, even recommended that students from Sarangani can enroll in the Mindanao State University - General Santos Campus, which is “only 25 kilometers away.” This thoughtless recommendation shows how out-of-touch Jaro is with the current affairs of the educational system nationwide. For the poorest students and their families, 25 kilometers becomes a ridiculous distance to travel every day, to add on top of the expenses that such a trip would incur. Jaro and the elitists at Ched would probably think otherwise, as their luxury cars could both drive them 25 kilometers and insulate them from the reality lived by their constituents.
In Dinagat Island, the privately owned school Don Jose Ecleo Memorial Foundation College of Science and Technology stands as the only HEI in the province. Ched’s hesitance to fund SUCs in the province exposes them as protectors of the private college’s monopoly on the island.
The legal and fiscal requirements to build SUCs should be of no concern to Ched, the legislative and national treasury only needs the Commission’s prodding.
Spark demands that Ched executes its mandate does its job and keep its nose to itself. (PR)
