DAVAO CITY, Aug 7 – The members of the militant National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP) in Davao thanked President Rodrigo Duterte for approving the law providing free tertiary education in State Universities and Colleges (SUCs). “Kami ay nagpapasalamat sa ating Presidente sa libreng edukasyon (We are thankful to the our President), Rowen Wabina said during the Kapehan sa Dabaw on Monday at the SM City Annex. NUSP described the signing of the Republic Act 10931, also known as the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, as victory worth celebrating. The law was signed by the President on August 3. Wabina, who is the coordinator of NUSP in Southern Mindanao Region and a student of the University of Southeastern Philippines (USEP), said this would not stop the NUSP to be vigilant because are not fully aware of the details of the rules and regulations. He said the NUSP has yet to see the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) to be crafted by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED). But Wabina said they need to remain vigilant and carry on the fight for free education since the CHED declared that out of 113 SUCs, the University of the Philippines (UP) is the only SUC that will collect this semester. NUSP also cited some contentious provisions particularly on prioritization of poor but deserving students and the ambiguity of Section 6 which states that “Those students who fail to complete their Bachelor’s degree or comparable undergraduate degree within a year after the period prescribed in their program.” Prince Harvey Arellano, vice chair of UP Mindanao Student Council, said the students are still pushing a nationalist, scientific, and mass-oriented education. Arellano also called for vigilance while CHED will be crafting the IRR of the RA No. 10931. RA 10931exempts qualified Filipino students from paying tuition and other school fees in pursuance of their bachelor's degree or comparable undergraduate degree in any state or local universities and colleges (LUCs). RA 10931 exempts from paying those students currently enrolled or shall enroll in non-degree technical-vocational education and training offered by any technical-vocational institution (TVI) under the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). SUC and LUC students who have already attained a bachelor's degree are not qualified to the free tertiary education. This is also applies to those who failed to comply with the school's admission policies and did not complete their undergraduate degree within a year after the prescribed period. For state-run TVI, students are ineligible to free education if they have a bachelor's degree or received a technical-vocational course diploma equivalent to at least National Certificate III, or failed in any course enrolled in during the course of the program. (Lilian C. Mellejor/PNA)
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