SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian asked the Commission on Higher Education to look at the situation of students denied admission in state universities and colleges despite steadily increasing allocations for the implementation of the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act.

The senator found out from his consultations with presidents of SUCs that some students who passed admission exams end up not enrolling.

This is because some SUCs do not have enough classrooms, facilities, laboratories, and teachers, among others.

“Not all of those who pass the admission exams actually go to college and it’s not their fault. Nakakapanghinayang na maraming mga deserving at qualified na mga mag-aaral ang hindi makapasok sa kolehiyo dahil lang sa kakulangan sa kapasidad ng ibang mga paaralan,” Gatchalian said.

He pointed out that the participation rate in higher education can be higher if the barrier of capacity had been removed.

According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization’s Institute of Statistics, the Philippines ranks fourth at 41% among ASEAN countries in terms of higher education participation rate, including enrollment in Technical-Vocational Education and Training programs.

While Gatchalian acknowledged that SUCs’ capital outlay did not increase commensurately to the budget of free higher education, he emphasized the need to have a roadmap to address capacity issues.

He asked the CHED to submit to the Senate the number of affected students.

“Student population is growing but I think it can still grow if we can address capacity issues. I would like to urge the Commission to look at this. It’s not going to be solved overnight but at least we can see a target that we can work on in the next few years,” he said.

From P38 billion in 2020, the budget for the free higher education law increased to P44 billion in 2021. For 2022, P46 billion was proposed.

Under the Free Higher Education program, 1.6 million students from 114 SUCs and 106 Local Universities and Colleges no longer pay tuition and miscellaneous fees while  436,000 students benefit from the Tertiary Education Subsidy.