AN OFFICIAL of the Mandaue City College (MCC) is hoping the school's UniFAST scholarship grant that gives free tuition to its students will continue and not be delisted.
This came after Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia appealed to the UniFAST for MCC's delisting and for other Cebu local universities and colleges (LUCs) to be on the "status quo."
Dr. Lilibeth Mayol, the acting college administrator of MCC, told SunStar Cebu on Wednesday, September 14, 2022, that the school still waits for the official announcement of its delisting from UniFAST.
Mayol said she is hopeful MCC's delisting would not push through as Garcia appealed to the institution to retain MCC's scholarship grant.
Mayol said Garcia sent the appeal immediately right after UniFAST announced that it would be delisting some Cebu LUCs scholarship grants that included MCC in May this year.
Mayol, though, did not disclose the other LUCs also bound to be delisted.
She clarified that the UniFAST scholarship grant would remain effective in MCC for this school year unless they receive a formal delisting statement from the institution itself.
UniFAST, which stands for Unified Student Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education, is a scholarship grant under the Commission on Higher Education (Ched).
MCC was first granted the scholarship in 2019, and its students from the school year 2019 to 2020 benefited from it.
Earlier, Councilor Malcolm Sanchez, chairman of the Committee on Education, said MCC's UniFAST re-application was denied.
Among the grounds for the rejection were that the school lacks plantilla (permanent) positions and other facilities.
Sanchez said the Mandaue City Government vows to improve Mandaue City College's facilities to fill in the qualifications the school needs to be re-approved for a UniFAST scholarship grant.
On September 6, the City Government turned over 12 modular classrooms, including a new school canteen and clinic, among others, to the MCC.
Sanchez hoped the new facilities would help increase the chance of the MCC getting approved for UniFAST and granted a Certificate of Program Compliance (COPC) as Ched is set to inspect MCC this month.
Sanchez also said the City Government would shoulder the funds needed to sustain MCC's free tuition program should the college's UniFAST delisting push through.
Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes also said they aim to make MCC a department so it will receive appropriate funds from the city's annual budget.
Cortes said it would help the City Government provide adequate compensation for the MCC, particularly its faculty members. (HIC)