THE House of Representatives has approved HB 7922, principally authored by Baguio Congressman Mark Go, on third and final reading.
The bill, once passed into law, would expand existing financial assistance to cover deserving students in private higher education institutions (HEIs).
Passed on third and final reading, the bill would see the current Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES) under the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act (RA 10931) expanded to also cover private colleges, universities, and technical-vocational institutions.
The TES may normally cover tuition and school fees, allowances for books, transportation, and other miscellaneous expenses, but primarily for state universities and colleges (SUC), and government-run local universities and colleges.
The bill seeks a proportional budgetary allocation for a portable voucher system to support financially challenged yet academically qualified students so they can opt to study in private higher education institutions, especially in areas with no existing public universities and colleges.
According to Go, there is a need to expand the coverage of the TES as public HEIs have a limited range of educational options, and especially in areas where there are no public HEIs.
“Students opting to study in private HEIs and tech-voc institutions shall be given a chance to have a fair share in the coverage of the TES through a voucher system. This measure will go a long way in granting educational benefits to more students,” Go said.
