More Mindanao med schools a correction of historical injustice – CHED chair
GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews / 29 September) – The number of state universities offering medical schools in Mindanao, from just one to seven over the past eight years, means a correction of a historical injustice, an official said.
Dr. Prospero de Vera III, Commission on Higher Education chair, made the remarks during the formal turnover of state-of-the-art equipment for simulation-based education (SBE) of the College of Medicine of the Mindanao State University (MSU) in General Santos City on Friday.
“I am proud to say that we have corrected a historical injustice in Mindanao” where there used to be only one government-run university with a school of medicine, de Vera said.
He recalled that of the eight medical programs available in public universities in the country in 2016, only one was in Mindanao – that of MSU in Marawi City.
He said government corrected the injustice when CHED expanded the number of public universities offering medical programs, with Mindanao having the biggest increase.
In the entire country, there are now 23 state schools with medical programs.
“From only one in Mindanao, we now have a medical program in Western Mindanao State University, USTP (University of Science and Technology in Southern Philippines), in MSU-Marawi, MSU-Gensan, in University of Southeastern Philippines, the University of Southern Mindanao, and Sultan Kudarat State University,” he said.
De Vera said Luzon has five universities with medical schools — Don Mariano Marcos State University in La Union, Isabela State University, Cavite State University, Batangas State University, and Bulacan State University.
According to the CHED chief, the support for medical education started in 2017 when Congress realigned the budget to be given to the agency.
“Most of the budget went to helping scholarships in state universities pero nagbigay din sila ng pera (but they also gave money) for medical education. So we started it in 2017, pero maliit pa yung fund (but the fund was small then),” de Vera said, recalling that it was only 167 billion pesos.
He noted that the Doktor Para sa Bayan Law in 2019 supported the free tertiary education initiative in state colleges and universities.
“The objective then was that CHED will assist in the establishment of medical schools – at least one in every region, and then provide medical scholarships for the poor but deserving students,” de Vera explained.
First-generation graduates
De Vera said the first products of free tertiary education are now earning their college degrees, a step in helping address poverty in the country.
“We are now seeing the phenomenon of what we call first generation students and first generation graduates, the first in their families to go to university and the first in the family to graduate from a university,” he said on Friday.
He recalled a recent graduation ceremony he attended at the Bataan Peninsula State University “where at least 60 percent of the graduates were first-generation students of their families.”
The official said it came as a surprise to know that there were so many first-generation graduates, especially in the countryside, made possible by free tertiary education.
“This is something whose benefit cannot be quantified in pesos or centavos,” de Vera said, pointing out that the benefit from such is a continuing process that would largely depend on the graduate.
He said giving individuals a chance to free education could help end the problem of poverty.
He said the first-generation graduates will make sure that their children, the next generation graduates, will not experience the difficulties they went through. “Wala naman gustong maging mahirap (Nobody wants to be poor),” he added.
He emphasized how these first-generation graduates will make sure to stop poverty in their generation.
Since education is free, we have to make sure students get quality education, he said. (Guia A. Rebollido/MindaNews)
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