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The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) on Wednesday said the prohibition for public universities and colleges from offering senior high programs (SHP) will not cover those with “laboratory schools.”
In a television interview last Wednesday, CHED chairman Prospero E, De Vera III explained state universities and colleges (SUC) as well as local universities and colleges (LUC) with teacher education have the legal basis to accept new students for SHPs for school year (SY) 2024-2025.
“These public universities, which offer teacher education and have a laboratory school, where education students train. So those will continue because even before K-to-12, they have laboratory schools,” the CHED official said.
Transition period
CHED issued clarification after it issued a memorandum reminding all SUCs and LUCs that their provisional authority allowing them to offer SHP will expire in the next school year.
De Vera noted the government just allowed the temporary arrangement for the transition period for the Kindergarten to Grade 12 (K to 12), which extended local basic education by two years.
He noted during the transition period there was a lack of available classrooms and teachers for senior high students, while there was excess classroom capacity in public universities.
“That is why DepEd (Department of Education) and CHED came out with an agreement in 2016 that during the transition period, public universities will offer senior high [program] so their excess room capacity and teachers will be utilized during the K-12 transition. Their students will be paid using vouchers from DepEd,” De Vera said.
Voucher extension
With the transition period now over, SUCs and LUCs with no laboratory schools are banned from accepting new Grade 11 students.
However, they may allow their Grade 12 students to graduate upon the approval of the respective board of regents (BOR) of the affected SUCs and LUCs.
“The [setting of] policy on admission of students–that is the power of the board of regents. It is not the power of CHED,” De Vera said.
He noted among the issues to be sorted out by the BORs is how the SUCs and LUCs will be able to pay for the SHPs after DepEd stopped issuing vouchers at the end of the transition period.
One possible option, he said, is for DepEd to extend its voucher distribution by another year.
“That is what we will discuss with DepEd,” De Vera said.
Image credits: CNN Philippines
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