THE death of UP Manila student Kristel Tejada should serve as a wake-up call for the government and move the Aquino administration to roll out a comprehensive financial assistance program for students from poor families all over the country, United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) senatorial bet JV Ejercito Estrada today said.
“It is unfortunate that a young and promising student had to die before the government gets rattled over reforming our educational system,” the San Juan solon said. “Sobrang nakakalungkot, dahil sa kabila ng ating pagsisikap na ipagbuti ang kalagayan ng State Universities and Colleges, may ganito pa rin na pangyayari.”
He added, “I hope that this incident would finally catch the attention of the Aquino government and move them to include in their priority bills in the Regionalized Subsidized College Education Program, the National Student Loan Program, and a higher allocation for the improvement of SUCs.”
He also urged the government to start prioritizing educational bills in the 16th Congress so poor students like Tejada could pursue college education through harmonized government scholarship programs.
Ejercito Estrada is author of nine bills under the Higher and Technical Committee in the 15th Congress. His bills under the committee aims to address concerns related to government scholarships, targeting of beneficiaries, administration of government programs related to student scholarships, as well as the allocation and use of government resources.
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Press Release
March 23, 2013
