MANILA, Philippines – The government yesterday expressed concern over the exclusion of the country’s top four schools from the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) list of top 300 universities in the world. “It is a cause for concern. Certainly, that’s a concern for the Department of Education and it’s something that we need to do something about,” said Palace Communications group Secretary Ricky Carandang. The University of the Philippines, Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU), De La Salle University (DLSU) and University of Santo Tomas (UST) fell from their 2010 QS rankings. UP dropped to rank 332 from 314 in 2010, AdMU fell to 360 from 307, DLSU fell to 551 from 451 while UST fell from 551 to 600. “I think the report really just emphasizes the need to improve quality education. I think it’s a wakeup call for the whole country,” Carandang said.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said the government should increase the budget for state-run universities and colleges (SUCs).
“If development is needed, we need to invest in development,” Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo said in a forum.
“The government has a lot to contribute to the state-run universities and colleges wherein majority of its students come from poor families.”
Kabataan party-list Rep. Raymond Palatino and the Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges-National Capital Region (PASUC-NCR) also called for an increase in the budgets of state universities and colleges.
In the 2012 proposed national budget, SUCs are allocated a budget of P21.89 billion, way below the P45 billion asked by SUCs. A total amount of P569.8 million would be slashed from the budget of 50 SUCs.
The maintenance and other operating expenses of 45 schools will be slashed by P250.9 million. The budget for personnel services has also been decreased by P403.3 million despite the supposed automatic increase in personnel services for each year, due to the Salary Standardization Law. A zero allotment for capital outlay is also proposed this year. This means that for 2012, there will be no state subsidy for infrastructure in SUCs.
Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III yesterday supported the call of Kabataan party-list group and other youth organizations to increase the budget of SUCs.
He said there is a need to support the SUCs because “education is a great equalizer” which is also one of the keys out of poverty.
“It is one of the keys out of poverty, if it is not the only key to solve our problem of poverty. So let us invest in our students from kinder all the way to doctorate degrees, science degrees if possible,” he said.
The Philippine StarBy Delon Porcalla With Evelyn Macairan, Christina MendezSeptember 07, 2011