The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) not only met but exceeded its physical targets for 2021, with some indicators recording notably high accomplishment rates for the period of January to December 2021.
This is the evaluation of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) after completing the review of CHED’s performance, particularly agency utilization of government funds vis-a-vis plans/targets.
“The accomplishments of CHED proved its commitment to delivering dynamic tertiary education services to the public.”
“The accomplishments of CHED proved its commitment to delivering dynamic tertiary education services to the public,” DBM Undersecretary Tina Rose Marie Canda stated in its written review sent to CHED recently.
In terms of financial performance, CHED achieved 92% (obligation vs. allotment) in FY 2021, which is higher than its performance in FY 2020 of 82%. The budget utilization of CHED prior to the Duterte administration was 78%.
CHED has two major programs, namely the Higher Education Regulation Program (HERP) and Higher Education Development Program (HEDP) for which the budget allocated in the FY 2021 General Appropriations Act is P427.853 million and P49.962 billion, respectively.
The HERP covers the regular activities of CHED such as monitoring and evaluation of higher education programs, formulation of policies for higher education institutions, and developing of standards for higher education.
The bulk of HEDP funds goes to various scholarship programs including the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education (UAQTE) with a budget of P44.288 billion.
CHED’s financial performance (obligation vs. allotment) showed very high obligation rates for UAQTE (99%), StuFAPS (90%), and Subsidy for Tuition Fees of Medical Students in SUCs (68%).
CHED has shifted to cash-based budgeting for most of its programs starting in 2020.
The practice of synchronizing the budget by fiscal year, and not by academic year, and the direct release of funds to CHED ROs for the implementation of the Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES) and Tulong Dunong Program (TDP), proved to be effective in improving the obligation rate of CHED, according to the DBM Report.
CHED’s revenue performance recorded a notable accomplishment rate of 129%.
This was due to the increase in the collection of permits, applications, and inspection fees because of the increased volume of applications for Certificate of Program Compliance (COPC) which is required for all public universities to ensure quality assurance of their degree programs.
“CHED also got a positive review of its 2020 budget performance last year.”
“DBM conducts annual monitoring and review of an agency’s performance, particularly its utilization of government funds vis-à-vis their plans and targets. CHED also got a positive review of its 2020 budget performance last year. With this year’s results of the DBM’s review to serve as a guide, we will now focus on improving our disbursement rate to ensure the timely delivery of its programs,” CHED Chairman Popoy de Vera said.
