SENATOR Francis “Chiz” Escudero sought the passage of a bill that will expand the coverage of the Tertiary Education Subsidy or TES.

Senate Bill 1360 aims to amend Republic Act 10931 or the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act to include private higher learning and technical-vocational institutions under TES coverage.

Escudero, who chairs the Senate Committee on Higher, Technical and Vocational Education, said in his sponsorship speech that there is a need to amend RA 10931 to make the law more responsive to the needs of the times.

“Laws are like apps. They have to be updated to retain their effectiveness when such has been degraded by developments, either new or unforeseen at the time the laws were passed,” the senator said.

“Some laws are victims of their own success, that the demand to expand the benefits they provide surge, putting pressure on Congress to amend them so that more people gain from the social good they create,” he added.

Escudero said the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act is one of those.

The senator said that Senate Bill 1360 is the answer to the pleas of those who have been left out and left behind by the promise of RA 10931

He described the measure as the 2.0 version of the TES component of RA 10931 as it provides provisions for more beneficiaries, more financial help for students, and more schools under the state program.

SB 1360 also expands the TES coverage to include students in private higher educational institutions and private technical-vocational institutes.