PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has signed into law a measure that allows working professionals to earn college degrees they can use for their career advancements.
Signed last March 3, Republic Act 12124 or the Expanded Tertiary Education Equivalency and Accreditation Program (ETEEAP) Act is a comprehensive alternative learning program of the government for tertiary education.
It provides the academic equivalency, accreditation, validation, and recognition of prior learning or the knowledge and expertise derived from relevant equivalent work experiences and from formal, non-formal, and informal training that harnesses a student’s full potential.
It also provides undergraduate degree for high school graduates, senior high school graduates, post-secondary technical-vocational graduates, and college undergraduates, including working professionals who were unable to finish or advance into college, or have earned a bachelor’s degree and wish to obtain a special graduate degree program without going through the traditional schooling methods.
The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) will serve as the lead agency in implementing the law and the ETEEAP will be used to identify, assess, validate, and assign equivalent undergraduate-level and special graduate programs of prior learning from formal, non-formal, and informal learning systems and relevant work experiences to qualified individuals for the grant of appropriate academic degrees.
To qualify, the individual must be a Filipino, regardless if they are in the country or abroad; 23 years old or older; has completed a secondary school program as evidenced by a high school diploma, or a result of the Philippine Educational Placement Test or Alternative Learning System Accreditation and Equivalency Assessment and Certification stating that the individual concerned is qualified to enter college; and have at least five years of total work experience in the industry related to the academic degree program or discipline where equivalency of learning is sought.
The individual must submit documentation of relevant training programs and other proof of formal, non-formal, and informal learning, as may be required by the deputized higher education institution (HEI), including National Certificates or Certificates of Competency issued by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).
CHED, as the lead implementing agency, shall deputize the HEIs with academic degrees to be opened for the ETEEAP; develop the standards for a diversified mode of assessing skills, values, knowledge, and levels of competence; grant or revoke HEIs’ authority to implement the ETEEAP; monitor and evaluate the implementation of the ETEEAP by deputized HEIs; and set standard fees and other administrative charges for accreditation that will contribute to ETEEAP’s special account.
It shall also report to the President and Congress the status of the implementation of the ETEEAP as well as its recommendation for the promotion of innovative educational and training pathways and equivalencies and the realization of the law’s objectives.
The Office of Programs and Standards Development (OPSD) under CHED will be strengthened to serve as the permanent technical secretariat to carry out the law’s functions.
The CHED shall have 60 days to draft and come up with the implementing rules and regulations for the law.
Funding needed for the implementation of the law shall be charged against the current year’s appropriation of the CHED.
CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Last Tuesday, the President approved the grant of P700 million in funding for the establishment within the year of child development centers (CDCs) in fourth and fifth class municipalities that lack resources to put up basic education development hubs in their locality.
“Gawin na natin ito. I am thinking the daycare centers can also be CDCs. Ganoon na rin ‘yun eh. You have the same kind of training for the people. The kids are there (Let’s do this. I am thinking the daycare centers can also be CDCs. It’s the same. You have the same kind of training for the people. The kids are there,” Marcos said during the sectoral meeting in Malacañang with the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) and other agencies.
The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has committed to releasing the funds needed for the CDCs.
The P700 million, which will be coursed through the Local Government Support Fund (LGSF), will finance the development of CDCs for every municipality.
Data from the EDCOM 2 showed that 5,800 barangays still don’t have CDCs despite a 1990 law requiring each barangay to have at least one.
