President Duterte signed into law Republic Act (RA) 10391, or the “Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act”, last month. The law allows students in state universities and colleges (SUCs), local universities and colleges and state-run technical-vocational schools to enjoy free tuition. RA 10391 also provides that public tertiary and vocational schools would no longer collect miscellaneous fees.
The grant of free tuition to students of public tertiary schools is one of Duterte’s campaign promises. This is probably the reason the President signed it despite the advice of his economic managers to reject it. The President’s economic managers had estimated that implementing the free-tuition initiative would cost the government some P100 billion annually.
Some Cabinet officials had also expressed apprehension that the law would not truly benefit the poor. According to Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno, only middle-class and upper-class students would benefit from it as only 12 percent of the poor get to state universities.
Currently, the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the law are still being crafted by the Commission on Higher Education. Officials are targeting to come out with the IRR before June 2018 so that the free-tuition scheme will be implemented in all SUCs in academic year 2018-2019. This would enable more students, particularly those in rural areas, to enjoy free tuition. Government officials and school administrators can use this opportunity to shore up enrollment in agriculture courses.
A comprehensive study on trends, prospects and policy directions in higher education in agriculture published in 2013 indicated that enrollment in agriculture courses declined by 1.5 percent on average each year. The study was conducted by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies and the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development. The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (Searca) noted fewer students enroll in agriculture courses every year, despite the increasing demand for food and other farm products in the country.
SUCs, particularly those in provinces, offer courses, such as agricultural engineering, agri-biotechnology, plant breeding and veterinary medicine. With the scrapping of tuition and miscellaneous fees, school administrators and government officials can now encourage enrollment in agriculture courses. The law also stipulates that poor students may avail themselves of stipend from the government.
The government should also look into the suggestion of Searca to improve the curricula used in agriculture courses. Searca said the curricula of agriculture courses could include the application of new information and communication technologies to agriculture data analytics, agricultural technology and to solutions for agricultural development and providing space for transdisciplinary, problem and practice-based approach to learning agricultural science and entrepreneurship.
Searca said agricultural education in the Philippines should focus on creating business opportunities from agriculture and developing the technical and entrepreneurial skills of students. The nonprofit organization argued that it is time for the Philippines to move up the value chain of agriculture to cover the entire agribusiness-commodity system and not limit its domain to just farm-level production. The expertise of agriculture graduates should now encompass the whole value chain, not just production, in view of the integration of Asean economies.
The grant of free tuition to students of public tertiary schools is one of Duterte’s campaign promises. This is probably the reason the President signed it despite the advice of his economic managers to reject it. The President’s economic managers had estimated that implementing the free-tuition initiative would cost the government some P100 billion annually.
Some Cabinet officials had also expressed apprehension that the law would not truly benefit the poor. According to Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno, only middle-class and upper-class students would benefit from it as only 12 percent of the poor get to state universities.
Currently, the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the law are still being crafted by the Commission on Higher Education. Officials are targeting to come out with the IRR before June 2018 so that the free-tuition scheme will be implemented in all SUCs in academic year 2018-2019. This would enable more students, particularly those in rural areas, to enjoy free tuition. Government officials and school administrators can use this opportunity to shore up enrollment in agriculture courses.
A comprehensive study on trends, prospects and policy directions in higher education in agriculture published in 2013 indicated that enrollment in agriculture courses declined by 1.5 percent on average each year. The study was conducted by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies and the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development. The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (Searca) noted fewer students enroll in agriculture courses every year, despite the increasing demand for food and other farm products in the country.
SUCs, particularly those in provinces, offer courses, such as agricultural engineering, agri-biotechnology, plant breeding and veterinary medicine. With the scrapping of tuition and miscellaneous fees, school administrators and government officials can now encourage enrollment in agriculture courses. The law also stipulates that poor students may avail themselves of stipend from the government.
The government should also look into the suggestion of Searca to improve the curricula used in agriculture courses. Searca said the curricula of agriculture courses could include the application of new information and communication technologies to agriculture data analytics, agricultural technology and to solutions for agricultural development and providing space for transdisciplinary, problem and practice-based approach to learning agricultural science and entrepreneurship.
Searca said agricultural education in the Philippines should focus on creating business opportunities from agriculture and developing the technical and entrepreneurial skills of students. The nonprofit organization argued that it is time for the Philippines to move up the value chain of agriculture to cover the entire agribusiness-commodity system and not limit its domain to just farm-level production. The expertise of agriculture graduates should now encompass the whole value chain, not just production, in view of the integration of Asean economies.
