MANILA – The Senate passed on third and final reading two education-related measures that will exempt deserving students from paying entrance examination fees and amend the land use development law covering state universities and colleges (SUCs).
Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero, chairman of the Senate Committee on Higher, Technical and Vocational Education, sponsored the approval of Senate Bills (SB) 2441 and 1470.
SB 2441 mandates private higher education institutions (HEIs) to waive entrance examination fees and charges for qualified students applying for college admission.
SB 1470 seeks to amend Republic Act 11396, or the “State Universities and Colleges Land Use Development and Infrastructure Plan (Ludip) Act.”
Both measures were passed on Monday.
Escudero said SB 2441, to be known as the “Free College Entrance Act” if passed into law, will “enable thousands of poor yet deserving young Filipinos the opportunity to get a college degree and have a brighter future.”
SB 2441 requires HEIs to waive their college entrance examination fees for graduating high school students with the following qualifications: a natural-born Filipino citizen; belong to the top 10 percent of his or her graduating class; and belong to a family whose combined household income falls below the poverty threshold as defined by the National Economic and Development Authority.
Meanwhile, SB 1470 aims to further strengthen the mechanism for land use development and infrastructure planning and budgeting for SUCs.
Under the bill, SUCs should be required to prepare and implement a Ludip designed to improve and optimize their resources.
“This blueprint can be an SUC’s syllabus for progress. By identifying key result areas, priorities are set, resources are channeled to where they can be most impactful, and progress is measured,” Escudero said.
All land use and priority infrastructure projects to be implemented by the SUCs within five years should be included in their Ludip, he said.
The government will appropriate P25 billion for the next five years for the implementation of the land use and infrastructure projects included in the comprehensive Ludip.
