Senate OKs bill on college degrees based on work experience

The Senate on Monday approved on third and final reading a bill that will help individuals earn undergraduate and graduate degrees based on their work experience.

Senate Bill 2568 or the Expanded Tertiary Education Equivalency and Accreditation Program (ETEEAP) Act was approved with 23-0-0 votes.

Senator Joel Villanueva, who defended the measure, said its intent “is to allow and empower persons who had to start working immediately, to be able to have their working experiences and prior learnings recognized and given equivalent credits for tertiary education.”

According to Villanueva, the measure institutionalizes the ETEEAP, which assesses and assigns appropriate equivalency credits for learnings and experience leading towards the grant of an appropriate academic degree.

Under the bill, individuals who seek to qualify for the ETEEAP must be a Filipino citizen residing in the Philippines or abroad, at least 23 years of age and with at least five years of aggregate work experience.

The applicants should also complete secondary education as evidenced by a high school diploma, or a result of the Philippine Educational Placement Test or Alternative Learning System Accreditation and Equivalency Assessment and Certification, stating that the individual concerned is qualified to enter college.

The applicant may also submit documentation of relevant training programs and other proof of formal, non-formal, and informal learning, as may be required by the deputized higher educational institution including, but not limited to, National Certificates (NCs) or Certificates of Competency issued by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) is mandated under the proposed measure to lead  the implementation of the provisions of the bill. It shall deputize colleges and universities that seek to offer the ETEEAP as part of their academic program.

The commission is also directed to discharge additional powers and functions, which include: deputizing higher education institutions (HEIs) to offer ETEEAP; working with government agencies to determine priority programs; convening inter-agency consultations for policy implementation; and allocating student financial assistance programs to ETEEAP learners.

Meanwhile, the HEIs shall develop clear policies and procedures for ETEEAP implementation, and shall convene a panel of internal and external assessors, which shall determine the appropriate equivalency credits acquired by an applicant.—RF, GMA Integrated News