National Higher Education Day

By Dr. Rex Casiple

President Rodrigo Duterte has signed into law Republic Act 11522 declaring May 18 of every year as the “National Higher Education Day”. This is to commemorate the founding anniversary of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).

CHED was created on May 18, 1994 by virtue of Republic Act 7722 (RA 7722), otherwise known as the “Higher Education Act of 1994”. It has a mission to protect, foster and promote the right of all citizens to affordable quality education at all levels and shall take appropriate steps to ensure that education shall be accessible to all.

CHED has the powers and functions to formulate and recommend development plans, policies, priorities, and programs on higher education and research. It sets minimum standards for programs and higher education institutions (HEIs) recommended by panels of experts. It monitors and evaluates the performance of programs and HEIs for appropriate incentives. It identifies, supports and develops potential Center of Excellence (COE) or Center of Development (COD) in program areas needed for the development of world-class scholarship, nation building and national development. It recommends to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) the budgets of public HEIs, particularly the state colleges and universities (SUCs), as well as general guidelines for the use of their income.

CHED rationalizes programs and HEIs and sets standards, policies and guidelines for the creation of new colleges as well as the conversion or elevation of colleges to universities, subject to budgetary limitations. It develops criteria for allocating additional resources such as research and program development grants, scholarships, and other similar programs. It promotes the purposes of higher education; reviews the charters of HEIs and state universities and colleges including the chairmanship and membership of their governing bodies.

The CHED is the lead agency in charge of the preparation and implementation of an annual program of activities and advocacy campaign for the observance of the ‘National Higher Education Day’ with the full support and assistance of the HEIs,  government agencies, public and private educational institutions, private employers and industry associations.

On May 17-21, 2021 the CHED celebrated its 27^th Founding Anniversary. The theme of the celebration was “PADYAK! Moving Forward, Claiming Victory for Philippine Higher Education. Pamantasan: Pandayan Tungo sa Kaunlaran”.

The celebration featured events, activities and webinars that revolve around the theme. Furthermore, some education frontliners of colleges and universities in Metro Manila were vaccinated during the National Higher Education Day celebration’s “symbolic vaccination” program. These frontliners were part of the priority groups scheduled to be vaccinated next month or during the availability of vaccine supplies. This is in preparation for the possibility of holding limited face-to-face classes next school year 2021-2022 among at least 60 HEIs offering medical and allied health courses.

CHED broadened the access of deserving and qualified Filipino students to higher education opportunities by extending financial assistance to poor but deserving college students through scholarships, grants and loan programs especially during this time of COVID-19 pandemic.

CHED also facilitated the implementation in higher education of RA 10931 or the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act of 2017. This Act implements free tuition and other school fees to students enrolled in SUCs and CHED recognized local colleges and universities (LUCs). This Act also subsidized the tuition and schooling of qualified students enrolled in PHEIs and grant loan programs to qualified students enrolled in college and in graduate school.

Hence, close to 2.5 million students are now being assisted by the government financially. This never happened in the history of this country. This is the basis for CHED claiming victory for Philippine higher education.