By HENRY EMPEÑO | May 18, 2023

BOTOLAN, Zambales — Congresswoman Doris “Bing” Maniquiz of the Zambales Second District filed on Tuesday a proposal for the free graduate education of government employees in State-owned schools, pushing further the national policy to provide quality education in all levels.

Taking note of government thrust for quality education and the need for efficient delivery of public service, Maniquiz proposed House Bill No. 8159, or “An Act Granting Free Tuition for Government Employees Enrolled in Graduate Education Master’s Program at State Universities and Colleges.”

The Zambales solon said this would help civil servants become “better-educated professionals who would in turn improve government service.”

Maniquiz noted that the national government has been pushing for quality education from pre-school to tertiary levels, thus the need “to take this further with my proposal in order to maximize results.”

“I believe it is very important to complement and strengthen State programs to develop human resources and improve government bureaucracy,” she added.

Under House Bill No. 8159, qualified government employees can take master’s degrees in State universities and colleges (SUCs) for free.

Beneficiaries would be government workers in career or non-career positions, including employees of government-owned and/or controlled corporations and local government units, who have successfully applied for a maximum of two-year master’s program.

However, applicants who were already granted government-sponsored graduate scholarship; students who fail to comply with the admission and retention requirements of the SUC; and those who fail to complete their master’s degree within a year after the period prescribed in their graduate education program cannot join the program.

Maniquiz recognized the need for the free tuition program upon noticing government employees, mostly teachers, queueing for cash assistance from local government units during school enrolment.

“This only means that there is a crying need for the government to straighten this financial imbalance and, at the same time, create an opportunity to further improve government service,” she said. 