CHED VI bent on keeping quality education in the region
Iloilo -- Education Supervisor II Dr. Rex Casiple said that the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) is consistent in its monitoring activities to see to it that schools in the region maintain their quality standards.
Dr. Casiple further said that in spite of some constraints in their monitoring and supervision, CHED VI had seen to it that they are updated of the status of schools in their jurisdiction. So far, he said, there are no diploma mills in the region and the medical schools are performing well in board exams.
Casiple added that their monitoring yielded recommendations that they find valuable and they have not failed in relaying these to school heads for the latter to consider in improving their performance.
CHED had expressed concern over the limited power that the agency has in supervising and monitoring s chools which are not under their areas of jurisdiction, wherein the office can only recommend improvements but not sanction some violations.
Dr. Casiple said that among the concerns that CHED is keeping track of is the mushrooming of community colleges in the region, which generally need closer supervision as to their compliance of requirements for a school to operate within acceptable standards.
These community colleges are supposed to operate by virtue of feasibility studies, resolutions by the local councils and should have good, functional facilities and qualified manpower. Dr. Casiple said that most of the community colleges in the region have fallen short of these requirements.
He lamented the fact that while community colleges are good alternatives for parents who cannot send their children to private colleges and universities outside of their municipalities, the quality of education is at greater stake. This is shown by the relatively poor performance of graduates in technical and academic courses which require board exams.
CHED cannot immediately act on this, since the courses can be phased out only after five years of consecutive poor performance in the courses and after 10 years for a school having poor performance in general. Casiple said that it is the students suffering in the process.
"CHED has to be empowered some more, if it has to be more effective in its role of contribut ing to the improvement of the quality of education in the country, " Dr. Rex Casiple said. (PIA/ESSubong)