'Return service' required from students who benefit from free college tuition law

Students who will benefit from the free college tuition law will be required to serve "return service" where they need to work in the Philippines while still in school, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) announced on Wednesday.

In a "24 Oras" report by Ivan Mayrina, CHED OIC Prospero de Vera III said: "It is just putting value to the subsidy that taxpayers are giving."

"Meaning totoong 'Iskolar ng Bayan' ka na ngayon. Kasi ang nagpapaaral sa 'yo ang bayan. Hindi ba tama lamang na magbalik ka naman ng konti sa bayan?" he added.

Lawmakers from the Kabataan Party-list slammed the provision, arguing college students do not need to render service in exchange for free education.

"'Yung free higher education , it's a right and a state obligation. Hindi siya dapat na may kapalit," Kabataan Representative Sarah Elago told GMA News.

President Rodrigo Duterte in August last year signed into law the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act mandated to exempt students from paying tuition and other fees.

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) allotted a total of P40 Billion to shoulder the tuition of around 1.4 million tertiary-level students.

According to the report, this includes all state universities and colleges (SUCs) nationwide, around 80 CHED-accredited  local universities and colleges (LUCs), and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority(TESDA)-accredited institutions.

CHED said the budget plan for 2018 will also cover the beneficiaries' miscellaneous fees unlike the previous year.

With this, student beneficiaries under the 4Ps are entitled to a P40,000 tertiary education subsidy per year whereas beneficiaries going to private colleges will be getting up to P60,000 per year.

De Vera said applicants are mainly required to pass a free admission test to avail of free education assistance.

"Basta natanggap ka na, libre ka na. Ang kailangan lang, unang kurso mo 'yun at tapusin mo doon sa takdang panahon," De Vera said on Wednesday.

With CHED yet to conduct an information caravan on the law's implementing rules and regulations, scholarship applicants from Laguna who flocked to the CHED office shared high hopes for the assistance.

"Ang laki ng opportunity po para sa amin," an applicant said on the report.

"Kasi po 'yung iba, di ba kaya di sila nagka-college kasi mahal ang gastusin so parang magiging motivation po nila 'yun para po magtuloy pa sila sa college," said another. —Margaret Claire Layug/JST, GMA News