UP TO 5,000 college students with unpaid school fees in Central Visayas will receive a one-time grant of P5,000 under the Bayanihan 2 for Higher Education Tulong Program (B2Help) of the Commission on Higher Education (Ched).
They will be among the 60,000 students from private and public higher educational institutions (HEIs) nationwide who will receive the cash grant provided under the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act (Bayanihan 2), or Republic Act 11494.
Students from private HEIs with an outstanding balance in tuition and miscellaneous fees for academic year 2019-2020 or 2020-2021 will get priority.
Ched 7 Director Maximo Aljibe said on Friday, Nov. 20, 2020 that Central Visayas was given 5,000 slots out of the 60,000 total slots for the grant.
He said they have yet to conduct an orientation on the program. Ched 7 is awaiting the guidelines, which are expected to be released on Nov. 25.
In a statement, Ched central office said the program was allotted P300 million under the Bayanihan 2 law.
Ched Chairman Prospero de Vera III private HEIs will need to submit a list of their students with unpaid tuition and miscellaneous fees to the Ched regional office.
The Ched regional office will then evaluate the application documents and the data requested for each potential grantee.
Participating HEIs with complete application documents and approved grantees will be the B2Help partner institutions.
Each private HEI will be limited to a maximum of 30 grantees during the initial selection.
If an HEI submits more than 30 names, the Ched regional office will just select the first 30 names on tAhe list.
The remaining recommended names can still be considered during the next round of selection until the regional office has filled its regional slot allocation.
The remaining slots after the grantees from private schools are approved will be given to the participating public HEIs “in accordance with the selection and ranking process of the institution.”
Lourdes Sese, chairperson of Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations of the Philippines (Cocopea), said this assistance will go a long way in helping families affected by the economic impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
Cocopea is an umbrella organization composed of the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities (Pacu), Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (Ceap), Association of Christian Schools, Colleges and Universities (Acscu), Philippine Association of Private Schools, Colleges and Universities (Papscu), and Tech-Voc Schools Association of the Philippines (TVSA).
The Bayanihan 2 Act, which President Rodrigo Duterte signed on Sept. 11, 2020, provides additional amelioration assistance to Filipinos and businesses most affected by the pandemic. / WBS