Exorbitant, oppressive school tuition hikes

EDITORIAL

Just a few more days before the finals, student groups in the Cordillera are assailing rising and “oppressive” school tuition hikes and even sent their complaints Friday to central office of Commission on Higher Education against tuition hikes and illegally collected fees.

They said these were “anti-education,” driving parents to indebtedness and even forcing students to commit suicide for not being able to pay high fees.

Getting an education nowadays for high school graduates had become a luxury most parents can ill-afford not only in northern Luzon but all over the country.

Students from poor families who are struggling to make ends meet to have an education become working students but most are supported by their parents or relatives. They are desperate to earn a college degree to change their and their family’s lives for the better that some have taken to the streets to make authorities and government and schools listen to their plight.

Last week students from Baguio and Benguet led by the local chapters of National Union of Students of the Philippines, College Editors Guild of the Philippines and Rise for Education Alliance started signature campaigns all over the region to drum up support to their cause.

Saint Louis University students also gathered almost 3,000 signatures last week in a petition to stop tuition increase, junk all other school fees and immediately improve school facilities. SLU is reportedly the biggest school with most number of college students in Cordillera.

The Commission on Higher Education has the mandate to regulate tuition increases, said MarbenPanlasigui of NUSP Baguio-Benguet, adding they are the ones who are responsible for monitoring consultation, checking and counter checking tuition proposals, and even approving tuition proposals but then, the government agency reportedly is not up to the job.

“If there’s a body who can do what must be done, its CHED. It is not a question of the limitations of the regional or national office. Indeed, if there’s a will, there’s a way, that applies to regulating tuition and other fees,” Panlasigui said, adding,  they passed complaints and tried to seek dialogue in the regional office of CHED with the latter saying “their hands are tied and that the complaints must be directed to the CHED national office.” (See page 1 for more details.)

In the complaints filed with CHED, students slammed “five to 10 percent 5-10 percent tuition increase in the region, exorbitant/redundant/dubious miscellaneous fees and dilapidated facilities. This year, one will need  P5,000 to P25,000 to send a child to school, not including other expenses such as housing, food, transportation etc. This requirement alone pushes families to more debt and kicks more young people out of school every year.”

President Aquino’s implementation of the Education Act of 1982, they said, ensured schools can raise tuition and other fees yearly with impunity considering deregulated status of Philippine education.

Even in Cordillera provinces where state of education is worse, both private and public schools reportedly continue to collect fees and provide lousy services to students.

Students asked for support of parents, teachers, communities and government officials and even those in the private sector in their thrust for quality and affordable education.”

Congress could look into the problem and start measures to address plight of students like exorbitant cost of tuition among other fees considering the nation needs an educated populace for it to grow.