THE SECOND Congressional Commission on Education or EDCOM Co-Chairperson Representative Mark Go implored the Commission on Higher Education to fast track the reconstitution of Technical Panels to address issues in higher education programs.

CHED Technical Panels are individuals recognized in their fields of expertise tasked with the formulation of a roadmap for the development of disciplinal and degree programs, as well as the review, revision and updating of policies, standards, and guidelines of programs.

EDCOM 2 noted that from FY2020 to FY2023, only 15 out of the 98 Technical Panels were reconstituted.

In the CHED budget hearing last year, CHED committed to fast track the reconstitution of 83 Technical Panels.

“We would like to know – ano ba ang plano natin to reconstitute all of these Technical Panels?” Go asked

CHED Chairman Popoy De Vera III said from 15, they have increased to 29 – plus 10 from health – totalling to 39 reconstituted Technical Panels.

The Commission said the need to reconstitute the Technical Panels is a crucial element in CHED’s quality assurance efforts for higher education programs.

This is aside from mechanisms based on HEIs’ outcomes and typology.

De Vera pointed to the cumbersome process of recommending experts from the private sector and from government agencies – in addition to those from the academe – as a bottleneck in the process of reconstitution.

“Ayaw naman po naming gumawa ng Technical Panel na kulang ng representation ng industry or government,“ De Vera said.

“Kailangan ma-strengthen natin ‘yung mga technical panels. And if we can have alternate members, para kung hindi pwede yung iba, the others can do the work,” Go, a lawmaker from Benguet, suggested.