LGUs protest MSU study centers closure

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines -— Provincial officials of Misamis Oriental are protesting the closure of external study centers of the Bukidnon State University (BSU) catering to students in Cagayan de Oro and Misamis Oriental.

Misamis Oriental Vice Governor Joey Pelaez led the protest along with at least 10 municipal mayors who were accompanied by students and their parents over the order of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to close the study centers of the state-run university.

Pelaez and the other protesters earlier gathered for a public hearing in Cagayan de Oro where one of the external study centers of BSU is located.

He lamented the plight of some 6,000 students of the BSU in Misamis Oriental and Cagayan de Oro who would be displaced by the closure.

He added that many of these students would be graduating in school year 2014-2015 in various college courses.

The BSU has its main campus in Malaybalay City, Bukidnon.       

A memorandum order from CHED calls for the closure of the BSU external study centers at the Misamis Oriental General Comprehensive High School campus in Cagayan de Oro in addition to those located in 10 municipalities of Misamis Oriental. 

Pelaez called the external study program a “laudable” program, adding that “it provides an avenue for better education at a lesser cost to the less privileged students.”

He said the closure order would be unfair to these poor but deserving students.

“Parents could not afford to send their children to expensive colleges,” Pelaez said.