ANGARA PRIORITIZES BOOST IN GOV'T TUITION SUBSIDY

During yesterday's Senate Committee on Education, Arts and Culture hearing, Senator Edgardo J. Angara said one of the priorities of the committee is the increase in government's tuition subsidy next year.

"This is very timely and important, especially when we take into account the problems we identified in the Education Committee hearing yesterday. It's good to know that the upper and lower houses are united in prioritizing the country's education," said Angara, Chair of the Senate Committee on Education, Arts and Culture.

The house Committee on Appropriations today announced that a P5.8-billion subsidy has been reserved for one million high school students, contained in the Department of Education's budget in the General Appropriations Act of 2011.

Angara, former President of the University of the Philippines, recognized the difficulty for families to send their children to school, with the hikes in tuition and miscellaneous fees adding to their stretched budget.

"Yesterday's hearing provided us with a clearer picture of the state of the Philippine educational system. One of the major problems our government's apparent lack of financial support for the students, so it's encouraging to learn that these students and these families are being taken to account in next year's budget," said Angara.