DAVAO CITY – The Salinlahi Alliance for Children’s Concerns said they are not surprised that the head of the Commission on Higher Education would say that college education is not for everyone.
Kharlo Manano, secretary general of Salinlahi said CHED chairman Dr. Patricia Licuanan’s statement explains why the Aquino administration’s education policy “neglects its responsibility to ensure that each child is given the opportunity to get a college education.”
Manano said that the tuition increase in private colleges and the decreasing budget allotted for state universities, including the K-12 program, “all aim to remove college education as an option for poor Filipinos.”
In news reports, Licuanan admitted that not every student should go to college and encouraged students to take technical and vocational courses.
“That option of going into technical-vocational and middle-level jobs is attractive, but in our culture, we have that notion that everyone should get a college diploma. I don’t think that’s necessary,” Licuanan said according to reports.
Salinlahi said “CHED and the Aquino administration want students to finish technical and vocational courses because our economy depends on labor export.”
“Sinasabi natin na ang mga kabataan ang pag-asa ng ating bayan, subalit itinutulak mismo ng pamahalaan na sila ay mangibang-bayan (We say that the youth is the future of the country, but our government is the one pushing them to go abroad),” said Manano. (davaotoday.com)
