Albay allots P16M for Australian model higher education scheme

By Mike dela Rama

LEGAZPI CITY, April 16 (PNA) – Albay Governor Joey Salceda announced Wednesday that the province is adopting the Australian model on Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) starting school year 2009-2010 with an initial fund of P16 million.

Under this program, those who enroll in Bicol University main campus and Albay-based private colleges can apply with the Education Quality for Albayanos (EQUAL) for a loan of P5,000 per semester for every semester for the entire course.

Salceda explained that after graduation, the beneficiary would pay only when he or she gains employment with amortization fixed at 3 percent of his monthly salary via Social Security System (SSS) or Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) until the amount is fully paid computed at 8 percent annual interest.

“If he does not get a job or earns nothing, he pays nothing at all,” he said.

“If he loses that job, then he stops paying also and that should compel the government to improve the education system so he gets a job and the government gets paid,” Salceda said.

According to him, if the beneficiary gets a better salary, then the loan is paid earlier so there is incentive for government to improve the educational system so he gets a better paying job.

“If he goes into business or abroad, then EQUAL will arrange a separate payment and monitoring scheme through arrangement with Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) for entrepreneurs, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) for Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs),” he said.

He clarified that for those who did not finish their study but got a job or engaged in business, he would still pay 3 percent of his monthly earnings to SSS or GSIS, thus the provincial government gets paid.

“My vision is to escalate this program to a portfolio of P1 billion in six years or P150 million per year funds mobilization from the national government or international foundations and aid agencies or even borrowings,” Gov. Salceda said.

He stated that his dream is to implement the Australian education system in Albay so that once an Albayano finishes high school, he could just enroll in any college and degree he chooses and the government would automatically pay for the tuition and even stipend which he would only pay when and if he gets a job.

The governor is hoping that after the fourth year, the provincial government can increase the limit to cover the full tuition and all other incidentals and even provide a stipend.

“And by the fifth year, we hope to expand the beneficiaries even to those studying in UP, Ateneo and UST,” he said.

Salceda said that in pursuit of the provincial government goal of shared and safe development through the achievement of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Albay had 10 pillars and education ranked first.

“In order to do this, we are executing several strategies and the province performs well in most of the 17 MDGs except for three, two of which are cohort survival and participation,” he said.

Albay is the first and the only provincial government in the entire country with a department dedicated to education.

Aside from the P16 million for HECS, the provincial government appropriated P12 million for Special Education Fund (SEF).

Governor Salceda said SEF is dedicated to basic education and its best use was as an incentive for classroom performance through Ten Outstanding Teachers in Albay (TOTAL) with awarding in December and “Oragon sa NAT" (Excellent in National Achievement Test).

“In order to further enhance our teachers’ capacity, EQUAL will implement a competitive subsidy program for masteral thesis at P60,000 and doctoral dissertation at P100,000 for Albay residents taking masteral and doctoral studies in Albay-based universities or colleges,” Salceda said.

For this program the provincial government has initially budgeted P2 million for school year 2009-2010.

“We are adopting a target production of 150 doctors in philosophy and 600 masters in our educational sector,” he said.

“But the bigger and rapidly expanding role of EQUAL is the management of our scholarship program which has a budget of P38 million this year supporting 13,750 scholars in tertiary education,” the governor said.

The scholarship scheme is innovative as it is beneficiary-led procurement.

If a qualified beneficiary is enrolled in a community college, the school will bill the province. The province does not pay for the service that does not benefit a constituent.

“If you do not benefit from the scheme, it is because you did not avail of it,” Salceda said. (PNA)