Conception in danger of abortion. That could be the Angeles City College, announced with so much fanfare to ear-splitting applause during the report of Mayor Ed Pamintuan on his first 100 days in office.
The spoiler: the Commission on Higher Education which recently announced that it is set to implement “any time soon” a two-year moratorium on the conversion of existing state colleges into universities, and to discourage local government units from establishing local universities and colleges (LUCs).
“(CHEd) would like to devote more effort in developing our existing SUCs (state universities and colleges) and not just go on the road making new ones. There is a concern on the quality of education. The moratorium will also provide us time to evaluate the programs and performances of existing SUCs.” So was CHEd Commissioner Nona Ricafort quoted in a story in Sun-Star Pampanga.
And, the bare-faced fact: “government cannot sustain the creation of new state universities as conversion would require additional funding allocation for the schools that were converted.” Translated to: Government just does not have the money for it.
Superior to creating new SUCs, in terms of financial efficacy and ensuring the quality of education, Ricafort said, is the establishment of satellite campuses of existing SUCs, supported by the local government units.
A case in point is the newly-converted Don Honorio Ventura Technological State University which already has a satellite campus in Mexico through the efforts of 3rd District Rep. Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales, and is set to put up another in Lubao, with Gov. Lilia “Nanay Baby” Pineda and 2nd District Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as prime movers.
Of the LUCs, it was the quality of education too that provided the tipping point: “We do not want to have so many schools wherein the quality of education is compromised. We also see a possibility of cutthroat competition.” So the Sun-Star Pampanga story quoted Ricafort.
Ricafort lamented that LUCs “more often than not, do not meet established standards,” disclosing that there are presidents of these institutions that do not have masteral and doctoral degrees which is a violation of CHEd regulations.
Instead of setting up their own colleges, Ricafort recommended that LGUs strengthen their scholarship programs and send their students to existing SUCs.
I don’t think certain LGUs will take Ricafort’s perorations too kindly.
If fading memory serves right, Mayor Oscar S. Rodriguez built the City College of San Fernando on the grounds that it is more financially feasible in the long run than maintaining the city scholarship program. Not to mention the world-class city’s hand in the rationalization of courses to better match its needs with the capabilities of its constituents.
It was essentially the same rationale for Mayor Marino “Boking” Morales to put up the Mabalacat Community College, its primary end to meet the growing manpower demands of the Clark Freeport.
Mayor Ed Pamintuan’s idea of his Colegio de Angeles is to make quality education affordable to the masses who find the city’s established universities highly prohibitive to their means.
“We could not really impose on the local government sector that is why we (can only) discourage them from creating new community colleges.” So was Ricafort quoted, matter-of-factly.
With the highly successful Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila and the Pamantasan ng Makati as models, the CHEd’s discouragement of the LGUs from pursuing their own LUCs is one lecture that will remain unheard.
