Diokno confirms ₱21.6B funding for Free Tuition and Student Aid

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Akbayan Party-list Representative Chel Diokno announced this Friday, September 26, that the government has fully secured ₱21.6 billion to sustain free tuition education and student assistance programs to state universities and colleges nationwide.

Following the late-night budget deliberations of the House Appropriations Committee, Diokno revealed that ₱12.3 billion has been allocated to ensure the full implementation of RA 10931 or the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act.

₱7.8 billion will be released through the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) covering tuition and miscellaneous fees in State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) and Local Universities and Colleges (LUCs).

The government has also allocated ₱9.3 billion for student assistance programs, including Tulong Dunong Program (TDP) and the Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES), which will provide cash allowance, books grants and other forms of financial support for students in need.

Enacted in 2017, the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act has helped millions of Filipino students pursue higher education free of charge. [F]

via Jan Renan Pascual, Staff Writer