In observance of the Holy Week, the Philippine News Agency’s online news service will be off on March 29, Good Friday, and March 30, Black Saturday. Normal operations will resume on March 31, Easter Sunday.

— The Editors

424 students may lose scholarship due to HEIs' 'pass all' policy

August 13, 2020, 12:53 pm

MANILA – The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) called on 17 higher education institutions (HEIs) to provide the numerical grades of 424 student scholars so they could continue their education with benefits under the CHED Merit Scholarship Program (CMSP).

Unlike the Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES) and Tulong Dunong grants, the CMSP is awarded to students based purely on scholastic performance or grades in priority degree programs of the government.

The CMSP scholars are required to maintain a general weighted average (GWA) of at least 85 percent or its equivalent if they are a full scholar or 80 percent or its equivalent if a half scholar.

“The problem was caused by HEIs who did a 'pass all' policy in their second semester. I made it very clear in CHED announcements that while the grading system of HEIs are determined and exercised by individual HEIs in the exercise of their academic freedom, any decision to adopt a 'pass all' policy must ensure that the interests of individual students are not compromised," CHED Chairman J. Prospero de Vera III said in a news release on Thursday.

De Vera said the CHED already warned HEIs last June that students who are on merit scholarship and need numeric grades would be “severely affected by HEIs that do this.”

The commission has written the presidents of the 17 HEIs to immediately give these scholars and grantees numeric grades, otherwise, they would lose their scholarships and may need to stop schooling.

“Applicants are ranked based on their Grade Point Average and those with the highest grades get the merit scholarship. If the HEIs will not give them numeric grades, what will be the basis to determine if the students will get financial assistance from the government?” he added.

The 17 HEIs that have CHED merit scholars and grantees but adopted a "pass all" policy are Saint Mary’s University; Bataan Heroes Memorial College; De La Salle University – Dasmariñas; STI College Rosario; University of the Philippines Los Baños; Cavite State University; Mary Help of Christians College – Salesians Sisters, Inc.; Ateneo de Naga University; Partido College; Pili Capital College, Inc.; Bicol State College of Applied Sciences and Technology; University of the Philippines – Visayas; Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology; Mindanao State University – Naawan; Polytechnic University of the Philippines – Sta. Mesa, Manila; University of Baguio; and Mindanao State University – Marawi.

“CHED has given these HEIs until Oct. 30, 2020 to provide the numerical grades so that our CHED regional offices can properly evaluate the GWA of the scholars and determine their eligibility to continue,” de Vera said. (CHED PR)

Comments