ZAMBOANGA CITY–The national government through the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) will continue its ongoing educational assistance for indigents even as the free tertiary education program is now in effect and is being implemented by the Duterte administration.
known as “Tulong Dunong Program,” CHED’s educational assistance in this city is implemented in partnership with the first congressional district office.
First district Rep. Celso Lobregat on Monday vowed to help the program’s funding needs for its continuous implementation.
Each of the student-beneficiaries enrolled in public State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) receive educational assistance of PHP3,000 per semester, or PHP6,000 per school year under the existing Tulong Dunong Program. Those enrolled in private universities and colleges, meanwhile, receive PHP6,000 per semester, or PHP12,000 per school year.
Lobregat said he favors the extension of the Tulong Dunong Program as it helped a lot of indigent students in the past when the free tertiary education was not yet in place.
In this city, hundreds of scholars identified by the first congressional office are enrolled in college and vocational courses of the Zamboanga City State Polytechnic College, Zamboanga State College of Marine Sciences and Technology, and the Western Mindanao State University.
The others are enrolled in private colleges and universities like the Ateneo de Zamboanga University and the Southern City Colleges.
Lobregat said the educational assistance the beneficiaries are receiving can be used to pay for miscellaneous and other school fees as well as allowances, noting that the free tertiary education program is now in effect this school year.
The free tertiary education is mandated under Republic Act No. 10931 otherwise known as the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act. (Teofilo Garcia, Jr/PNA)
