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PARA kay Solid North partylist Rep. Ching Bernos, napapanahon nang palakasin ang kapasidad ng Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) para lubos na magampanan ang nakaatang na mandato.
Sa isang kalatas, partikular na tinukoy ni Rep. Bernos ang panawagan ng Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2).
“It is a well-established fact that the Commission on Higher Education is stretched to its limits. Kulang na kulang sa staff kaya kinakapos sila gaano man nila kagustong gampanan ang kanilang mandato,” pahayag ni Bernos na kabilang sa mga miyembro ng House Committee on Higher and Technical Education.
Sa EDCOM 2 Final Report na “Turning Point: A Decade of Necessary Reform (2026–2035)”, natukoy aniya ang malaking kakulangan sa regional monitoring capacity ng CHEd.
Katunayan aniya, meron lamang umanong 398 plantilla personnel ang CHEd para sa monitoring ng 37,443 undergraduate at graduate programs ng nasa 1,980 colleges at universities na may tinatayang 3.8 million students.
Ang mas nakalulungkot pa aniya, may ibang CHEd regional offices ang nag-iisa lamang ang staff member na tumingin sa mahigit 200 programs.
“EDCOM 2 further noted that due to understaffing, CHEd had managed to review only 13 percent of programs scheduled for monitoring, with 84 percent of those reviewed found to have deficiencies ranging from inadequate facilities to weak faculty qualifications,” paglalahad ng mambabatas.
“The CHEd also reported that it takes an average of 11 years to update standards for college degree programs,” dugtong ng kongresista.
Giit ni Bernos, kinakailangang magkaroon ng agarang at matibay na pagbabago sa CHEd para masolusyunan ang nakitang malaking kakulangan upang maiwasan din na magkaroon ng mababang kalidad sa hanay ng tertiary education.”
“Kung gusto natin na mas gumaling ang ating mga pamantasan at kolehiyo, kinakailangang mabigyan ng sapat na tao at pondo ang CHED para gawin ang mandato nitong pangasiwaan ang kalidad ng edukasyon na inaalok ng ating mga institusyon,” aniya pa.
“The future of our children is at stake here. Our continued failure to make CHED capable of upholding its mandate to ensure quality education in our institutions could mean that even though students graduate what they will be holding is a mere piece of paper, minus the knowledge required to be productive citizens.”
