Bill brings student national service training a step closer

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and several government agencies in the Philippines have crafted a ‘consensus bill’ which will institutionalise a two-year mandatory National Service Training Program (NSTP) and four-year optional Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) curriculum for higher education students, write Hana Bordey for GMA Integrated News.

CHED Director Spocky Farolan presented the proposal at a senate hearing on the bills seeking to make ROTC mandatory. Farolan said the consensus bill would more or less capture the intent of President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr when he mentioned it in his state of the nation address on reforming the NSTP law and reviving the ROTC programme.

This curriculum will focus on disaster risk reduction and management and civic duty-related concerns, he added. “The bill will be institutionalising, if passed, a two-year mandatory national citizens’ service training programme in tertiary education,” he said.
Full report on the GMA News site