[av_one_full first min_height=” vertical_alignment=” space=” custom_margin=” margin=’0px’ padding=’0px’ border=” border_color=” radius=’0px’ background_color=” src=” background_position=’top left’ background_repeat=’no-repeat’ animation=”]
[av_heading heading=’‘President can condone unpaid college tuition’’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
[/av_heading]
[av_textblock size=” font_color=’custom’ color=”]
Saturday, April 8, 2017
[/av_textblock]
[av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”]
ILOILO City – President Rodrigo Duterte can condone the unpaid tuition fees of some 1,000 graduates of the Iskolar sang Quinto (ISQ) program at the Northern Iloilo Polytechnic State College (NIPSC).
The provincial government of Iloilo cannot do anything to help the students but the President can, according to Gov. Arthur Defensor Sr.
The government agencies directly concerned were the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the office of incumbent Cong. Raul Tupas whose elder brother Niel Jr., the former congressman of the Iloilo’s 5th District, started the ISQ.
“Ang mabulig lang namon is persuasion. Wala kami poder sina. This is beyond the ambit of the statutory obligations or mandate of the provincial government of Iloilo,” said Defensor.
The provincial government, however, can help bring the problem to the President’s attention.
A total of 27,892 students were grantees of the ISQ program and nearly 1,000 of them – already graduates – could not get their transcript of records due to unpaid tuition fees reaching P74.7 million.
This was not students’ fault, stressed the governor.
“Kabay pa makalab-ot ini sa igtalupangod sang Presidente. I suggested to (Cong.) Boboy (Tupas) nga mangayo sya audience kay indi madisponehan sang DBM kag CHED. Pero kon ang President magdesisyon nga i-condone n’ya , waay na problema,” said Defensor.
It is not fair for the students who were misled into believing their tuitions would be shouldered by the government, he added.
“Nag-enroll sila on the assumption nga iskolar sila and entitled to the benefits of the program nga ginpatigayun ni former congressman Jun-jun Tupas. Ang problema daw wala man ma-releasan…But the long and short of this, indi sala sang mga bata nga maka-graduate na sila,” Defensor said.
Without their transcript of records some 1,000 ISQ graduates in NIPSC could not apply to take board exams.
“Ang akon suggestion, tinguhaan niya nga makigkita sa President and beg the President, convince the President nga kun pwede ma-condone na lang na ang balayran sa eskwelahan,” said Defensor./PN
[/av_textblock]
[/av_one_full]
