As today’s youth prioritize becoming breadwinners for their families in the future, a member of the House of Representatives’ higher and technical education committee called on the government to ensure the youth have adequate opportunities to improve themselves through education.
“Many young Pinoys are expecting to become breadwinners. The government must do all it can to ensure that they will be properly equipped to join the workforce and escape the cycle of poverty,” Solid North Party-list Rep. Ching Bernos said.
Bernos explained that with the education sector expected to receive the highest budget allocation next year, it is up to the appropriate agencies to utilize their budget properly to help address a worsening education crisis.
She said that with an unprecedented P1.28 trillion allocation for the education sector in the House-approved budget, including P48.2 billion for the Commission on Higher Education and P25.3 billion for the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, the government can be a partner in the youth’s desire for an education that paves the way to better work opportunities.
The CHED’s Tertiary Education Subsidy will also have P6.6 billion next year to support 490,000 incoming college students from 4Ps households, while P5.1 billion has been earmarked for TESDA’s Training for Work Scholarship Program aimed at training 190,000 Filipinos in priority skills.
“Malaki ang maitutulong lalo na ng allocation para sa mga scholars upang mas marami sa mga kababayan natin ang mabigyan ng pagkakataong makawala sa kahirapan,” the lawmaker said.
She also urged the CHED and TESDA to ensure that its scholarship beneficiaries go to the “most deserving and most in need of help.”
The House last month passed the 2026 General Appropriations Bill. For the first time in history, the government’s budget for education represents 4.1% of the country’s GDP, exceeding the UNESCO benchmark for education spending.
