Education

ASU: One Outstanding SUC – Angara

The significant Research & Development programs and projects, international linkages and the commercialization of its inventions, made the Aklan State University (ASU), headed by President Benny A. Palma, one of the five (5) outstanding State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) in the country.
This is according to Sen. Edgardo J. Angara, Senate Finance Sub-Committee “C” Chair, in his Sponsorship Speech during the Senate Budget hearing on November 28, 2007.
Other outstanding SUCs include the Mariano Marcos State University, Central Luzon State University, Visayas State University and University of Southern Mindanao. “These SUCs are models for development for the rest of the SUC system,” Angara said.
Furthermore, in his speech regarding the Higher Education System, he cited that they have highlighted and channeled public spending towards more scholarships and student financial assistance. They have rationalized the CHED scholarship programs – from over 20 different programs to just three major headings namely: State Scholarship; Special Study Grant; and Study Loans. The Higher Education Development Fund will also be rationalized – the bulk of money will go to scholarship programs and the remaining funds will be for research and graduate scholarship; for quality assurance and upgrading; and for management and information systems development.
The senator further stressed that food and agriculture are critical to our population of 88 million in three years. They will require not just sufficient food but adequate nutrition.
“In improving food security, we emphasized public spending in conserving water, coastal and marine resources and promoting watershed protection, and forest conservation. On top of these priorities is public spending in R & D, which has the highest economic return of all economic activities,” Angara pointed out.
The Senator added, “all the departments and agencies covered in the Senate Sub-committee C aim to provide food for the Filipinos: food on the table through agriculture, food for the mind through education and the means to acquire these through jobs – in science and technology, trade and tourism, and culture. Basically, this is an attempt to make a budget for a competitive Filipino.”(ASU-ECS) /MP