Rationalizing resources

STATE Universities and Colleges (SUCs) provide an alternative for many families, especially from the rural areas and the urban to be able to send their children to higher education at an affordable cost.

The presence of SUCs have also shown that many of the poor but deserving students can have an opportunity to improve their lives through a relevant and efficient educational curriculum.

If plans will push through however, the SUCs in the Davao region namely, the University of Southeastern Philippines (USEP), the Davao del Norte State College (DNSC), the Davao Oriental State College of Science and Technology and the Southern Philippines Agribusiness and Marine and Aquatic School of Technology (SPAMAST) will be integrated into the Davao Regional State University System.

The system will rationalize higher education and reduce by at least 10 percent the number of state universities and colleges (SUCs) in the country which are often saddled by budget cuts and limited resources.

Students from these state universities have opposed the move, saying that it would compromise the quality of education and limit the number of those who would want to pursue higher education.

The unabated increase of tuition fees in private colleges and universities has hampered the ability of many families to send their children to school. For many, state universities and colleges provides an alternative to gain quality education.

There are varied reasons to consolidate SUCs, but mostly to rationalize resources to be made available for teacher upgrading and improvement in key strategic public tertiary education in all regions.

The Department of Education would rather involve the private sector in providing tertiary education and focus its resources in strengthening primary education. This track could prove to be a challenge especially that the public has yet to see an efficient public-private partnership in the field of education and with the fact that a lot of government resources have been squandered.

The debate continues. Let us just hope that public representatives are able to genuinely put forward the interest of our young people and decide for the best. Email comments to roledan@gmail.com