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By James Konstantin Galvez, Reporter
The Philippine Association of Colleges and
Universities wants Romulo Neri fired as chairman of the Commission
on Higher Education (CHED), accusing him of playing “deaf and
blind” to tertiary education concerns.
“Neri’s brilliance is misplaced. He should
be placed somewhere else where his brilliance can be put to good
use,” Gonzalo Duque, president of the 170-member association, said
sarcastically.
“Apparently, the acting chairman has other
things in mind than attending to higher education concerns,” he
added.
Duque, who is a Philippine Overseas Employment
Administration (POEA) deputy head, said the commission needs a
chairman who is “really focused on the job,” adding that they
will ask President Gloria Arroyo to immediately appoint a
replacement.
Earlier, stakeholders in higher education said
CHED is in the state of “suspended animation” and is suffering
from a “lack of direction.”
Sources within the agency and other education
stakeholders agreed with the observation, saying Neri hardly reports
for work since the $330-million national broad-band scandal erupted.
Neri was a star witness in the Senate investigation where he accused
a Palace ally for bribing him to approve the controversial project.
“We don’t see any type of initiative here at
CHED,” a source said.
Also, officials of the Coordinating Council of
Private Educational Associations said they feel dismayed about the
current state of affairs at CHED under Neri’s stewardship. They
questioned his qualifications as chairman.
Duque said they are “very disappointed” with
Neri’s management style, particularly with the issuance of the
controversial nursing curriculum that he claimed was “very
unfair” to schools and students.
He said CHED allegedly failed to consult private
colleges and universities about new policies. “Clearly, due
process was not observed.”
In a paper furnished to the House Committee on
Higher and Technical Education, Duque described as “illegal and
invalid” the CHED order “having been issued and implemented
without the benefit of public hearing and publication.”
“The subsequent promulgation of the order
without issuing the proper guidelines in the conduct of public
hearings manifests the inequitable and unfair conduct of the CHED in
dealing with private higher education institutions,” he said.
CHED officials defended the new policies
explaining they were aimed at further honing nursing students’
technical knowledge and skills, making them more competent and
competitive to both local and foreign employers.
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