Govt to pool scholarship funds to pay for free-tuition law

The Duterte administration is set to earmark P20 billion out of the proposed P3.7-trillion national budget for 2018 to fund the new law granting free education in state universities and colleges (SUCs).

Commissioner Prospero de Vera of the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) made the announcement a day after the House appropriations panel chief, Rep. Karlo Nograles of Davao City, disclosed that Congress and the Executive department were looking at pooling P16.8 billion in scholarship funds of various government agencies for 2018 and part of the 2017 scholarship allocation of P8 billion.