THE Association of Colleges and University of Negros Occidental (Acuno) is hopeful on the implementation of free tuition in state colleges and universities (SUCs).
John Orola, president of VMA Global College, said that free tuition would help many students who are financially hard up.
He added that the government and the private sector should work hand in hand for the realization of the plan.
State colleges and universities should offer courses that are not afforded by private schools, Orola said, adding that these courses should be related to geology, mining, and natural sciences.
“These are courses that need laboratories and experts. The public schools can get funds from the government for these kinds of programs while the private sector are just left to the usual courses,” he said.
An additional P8.3 billion was added to the budget of Commission on Higher Education for 2017 that will go solely to subsidizing the tuition of over 1.4 million students of SUCs.
VMA is focusing on maritime courses, which are in demand.
Orola said they are looking into the direction of courses related to the Asean program.
