COMMISSION ON HIGHER EDUCATION (CHED) / MARCH 3, 2022. Photo from Commission on Higher Education (CHED) facebook page
MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) is struggling to meet its original mandate, its new leadership told the Second Congressional Commission on Education (Edcom 2).
Newly appointed CHEd chair Shirley Agrupis admitted on Thursday that the commission faces structural, data, and governance issues that hinder its capacity to steer the country’s tertiary education system.
“[The] ideal academic setup insists that if, and only if, the provisions of [Republic Act Nos.] 7722 and 8292 are well-studied, well-implemented, and well-monitored, there would be no challenges, and this makes higher education governance more intricate than expected,” Agrupis added, referring to the laws defining the mandate of CHEd and the powers of state university and college officials.
Agrupis, who took her oath as CHEd chair on June 11, responded to questions from Edcom 2, which is conducting a national review of the country’s education sector this July. The review is part of its mandate to assess the performance of CHEd, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda), and the Department of Education (DepEd).
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“We admit that we have a lack of demand-driven [and] nationally coordinated human capital,” Agrupis said. “[CHEd has] no centralized data on the demand and thorough analysis of the demand from the industry and government sectors.”
Edcom 2 said that CHEd has neither designated new centers of excellence since 2016 nor provided support for voluntary accreditation since 2020.
“Despite the clear mandate of CHEd since 1994, many of its intentions remain unfulfilled,” said Edcom 2 executive director Karol Yee. “Excellence remains low, and with little support provided by CHEd to higher education institutions.”
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Former CHEd Director Amelia Biglete cited challenges the agency has faced since its inception.
“Our problem in CHEd is [that] CHEd was expected to do regulatory function and developmental function. In terms of regulatory function, it was very challenging because CHEd was not a quasi-judicial [body],” Biglete said. “Most of the time, if we impose sanctions, what we will receive is a case in the Ombudsman … and then even in courts, we had cases.”
She added that CHEd has struggled with monitoring institutions because of its “lean and mean structure,” which includes a large number of contract-based personnel.
The CHEd assessment is part of a series of charter review sessions throughout July. Edcom 2, co-chaired by Senators Sherwin Gatchalian and Alan Peter Cayetano, and Representatives Roman Romulo and Mark Go, is set to evaluate the charters of Tesda on July 10 and DepEd on July 17. /jpv