THE COMMISSION on Higher Education assisted 17 private higher education institutions in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao to fast-track their inclusion in the list of schools covered  by Republic Act 10931 or the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Law.

These 17 private HEIs and their programs were found to be compliant with the policies, standards, and guidelines of CHED and have been given Certificates of Government Recognition.

CHED and UniFAST Board Chairman Prospero de Vera III said the commission is helping these HEIs to enable poor students in the region to get free college education.  BARMM has one of the highest poverty incidence rates in  the country.

“Access to free and quality tertiary education will continue to be offered to our disadvantaged Filipino students by giving them additional funds that will help them cope with the health crisis and cover not only their educational needs but even their living expenses,” De Vera said.

The 17 HEIs have yet to pass an evaluation by the CHED Regional Office before being included in the commission’s Registry of Programs. Once they pass the evaluation, UniFAST will issue the credentials to enable these institutions to access the TES Portal, where they would submit information of their enrolled students for the validation and verification process.

“As we pursue our efforts in reconfiguring the higher education in the Bangsamoro, we are confident that CHED, under the strong leadership of Chairman Popoy de Vera, will continue to extend its support and assistance to help improve the delivery of our higher education services in the region,” Higher Education Director General Marjuni Maddi of the Bangsamoro Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education said.

For Academic Year  2020-2021, more than 42,709 students in state universities and colleges in BARMM benefited from the free higher education program.