Bill proposes new ways to earn college degree

The House higher and technical education panel on Monday approved a bill institutionalizing the Expanded Tertiary Education Equivalency and Accreditation Program (ETEEAP), which allows professionals to earn a bachelor's degree without going through traditional schooling methods, according to a report by GMA News.

House Bill 5728, authored by Tingog party-list representative Yedda Romualdez, seeks an expanded implementation of the ETEEAP program which was first adopted as an integral part of the country's educational system under supervision of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) by virtue of the 1996 Executive Order No. 330, signed by then President Fidel Ramos.

“In institutionalizing the program, the state would be able to uphold, commit, and follow its constitutional mandate of protecting and promoting the right of all citizens to quality education and of establishing, maintaining, and supporting a complete, adequate, and integrated system of education relevant to the needs of the people and society,” Romualdez said in her explanatory note.

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“This will provide the individuals an avenue to complete and finish their college education and allow them to harness and maximize their full potential in their respective fields,” she added.

Baguio City Representative Mark Go, House higher and technical education panel chairperson, and CHED backed Romualdez.

“This [bill] will guarantee not only support from the government, but for appropriate funding so that the CHED can fully implement this rather than do it on a limited scale,” Go said.

“This will increase deputized HEIs (Higher Educational Institutions) for who will be deputized for different programs across the country because a lot of them are applying [to be deputized],” Tina Rotario of CHED’s Office of Programs and Standards Development  added.

Under the bill, qualifications and requirements for the ETEEAP program include:

•     Filipino citizen;
•     has at least five years of work experience;
•     birth certificate issued by the Philippine Statistics Authority;
•     at least 23 years old;
•     resume/curriculum vitae/personal data sheet;
•     duly accomplished ETEEAP application form;
•     service record or employment certificate signed by the employer;
•     job description signed by the employer; and
•     transcript of records.