CHED apologizes for delayed allowances of scholars

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Higher Education said it is expediting the process to fully release the allowances of government scholars as it apologized for the delays that the agency had encountered.

“The commission acknowledges that the delays have caused pain to our scholars, many of whom rely on living allowances for the daily subsistence of their families,” CHED Chairperson Patricia Licuanan said in a statement.

Licuanan said the delays were caused by several factors which include CHED’s internal system that is unfit to handle a high volume of documents submitted, discrepancies in documentary requirements and additional demands prescribed by the Commission on Audit.

To fast-track the release of living allowances, CHED will hire additional manpower to process more than 11,000 sets of documents and introduce quality checks to ensure that issues can be detected early on.

The commission will also closely coordinate with the regional offices to expedite their processes.

CHED said that 2,152 scholars, whose documents have fully complied with the guidelines, would receive full living allowances by December 29.

A total of 1,011 scholars will receive partial living allowances by January 5, 2018. These scholars are advised to submit their deficiencies to their respective CHED regional offices on or before January 10.

However, a total of 933 scholars will not receive allowances until they fully submit their requirements to CHED.

“The commission recognizes that the stop-gap efforts are not enough and we apologize to the scholars for our shortcomings. Longer term structural reforms should be implemented to sustainably address the perennial problem of delays in releases,” Licuanan said.

She added: “CHED appeals for extended patience and continues support in this once-in-a-generation effort.”

More than 9,500 scholars are being supported under the program, which includes support for the tuition fees, living allowances and other privileges such as thesis/dissertation grants, book allowances and transport expenses.

It was implemented in June 2016.