Investing on higher education

January 16, 2012
For several months last year, students, supported by faculty members, of state colleges and universities like the University of the Philippines, held many rallies on the streets and inside campuses to drama tize their protest against the decision of the goverment to slash the budget of the state schools. The big concern of the students was that with their low budget, the quality of higher education will continue to suffer.
Many of the country’s leaders came to the succor of the protesting students and faculty members and called on President Aquino and Congress to do something about their demands,
In response, the President and Budget Secretary Florencio Abad denied any plans to slash further the allocations for the SCUs and clarified that the government was in fact sympathetic to the students’ cause and planned, in fact, to increase the budgets of the SCUs. Despite the assurances, the fears of the students, faculty members and SCU officials persisted and continue to persist.
Last week, the Department of Budget and Management announced that P4.2 billion more has been allocated into SUCs. The allocation is part of the additional P13.4 billion that is invested for the Disbursement Acceleration Plan (DAP). The DBM stated the new funding is part of the commitment of the government to enhance the quality of higher education and increase the competitiveness of the state universities and colleges. Hopefully, with the fund, Filipino students will get a much-needed tertiary educational boost and upgrade the standards of excellence among SUCs.
Of the P4.2 billion, P3.356 billion will support institutional capacity building activities in leading SUCs. These include funds for upgrading key infrastructure and facilities (P2.631 billion), grant-in-aid for research, development and extension (P560 million) and executive development (165 million). 
The additional P4.2 billion also includes the P500 million Grants-in-Aid program for poverty alleviation that will support qualified students to complete a college degree. The students will come from the poorest families as identified by the Department of Social Welfare and Development. Also, P427.8 million has been earmarked for the Modernization of Higher Education Facilities project, which will infuse critical investments on leading SUCs in the regions. 
We hope the government’s announcement of additional funding for the state colleges and universities throughout the country will ease the tension among the protesting students, SCU officials and faculty members. After all, cool heads are better in the schools than hot heads that tend to disrupt the educational process.