KABATAAN Partylist Rep. Sarah Elago on Friday denounced the lack of funding to retrofit campuses for flexible learning and enable their reopening for all degree programs.

Elago lamented that assisting universities and colleges is not a priority in the proposed national budget for next year.

During the hearing of the Committee on Appropriations at the House of Representatives, Commission on Higher Education Chairman Prospero De Vera III said that efforts to conduct limited face-to-face classes are gaining ground.

He informed lawmakers that the commission and the Inter-Agency Task Force submitted a proposal to President Rodrigo Duterte to approve more degree programs for face-to-face classes.

“Naniniwala naman ‘yung CHED na ligtas na muling magbukas ‘yung mga eskwela at malinaw na ang bola ay nasa pangulo, kaya dapat po ay manawagan sa IATF at Malacañang ng ligtas, gradual at boluntaryong pagbabalik-eskwela. ‘Yan po ang pangunahing panawagan ngayon ng mga kabataan at iskolar ng bayan,” Elago said.

CHED also admitted the lack of funding to grant the demand for P10,000 student aid.

The youth group said that negligence in aiding students and other stakeholders in education gravely affected the operations of schools.

It claimed that 26 higher education institutions, mostly small private schools, have shut down in the past year.