P260 M released for student scholarships

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has released almost P260 million for the education subsidy of over 13,000 poor but deserving college students.

CHED chairman J. Prospero de Vera III said the commission has issued check payments totalling P259.4 million to 55 state universities and colleges (SUCs) that have submitted complete billing requirements for their students covered by the Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES) program.

The funding will be for student-beneficiaries of the Expanded Students’ Grants-in-Aid Program for Poverty Alleviation (ESGP-PA), the education subsidy for college students belonging to poor families.

Under the program, each student receives P40,000 for books, food, transportation and other expenses every year.

Validation of the scholars was previously conducted by the Department of Social Welfare and Development, with the funding directly lodged with the SUCs.

The new universal access to quality tertiary education law, however, directed the transfer of the ESGP-PA to the TES, whose funding is lodged with CHED.

The transition resulted in delays in the release of funds due to incomplete billings from the SUCs, according to De Vera.

“I continue to get complaints from ESGP-PA scholars that they have not received their stipends since the start of the semester. SUCs must prioritize the submission of documents, claim the check from CHED and release the stipends to make sure our students can continue their studies,” he said.

Aside from the 55 SUCs that have received check payments, CHED said another P163.6 million will soon be released to another 18 tertiary institutions. Payment for 24 SUCs worth P172 million is also being processed.

Meanwhile, 13 other SUCs were given until Nov. 20 to complete all the requirements to expedite the release of the subsidy for the qualified students.