This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. V, No. 6, March 13-19, 2005
Students from 4 Big
Universities Oppose Tuition Hikes
Students from four of the country’s biggest tertiary private schools will file
complaints before the Commission on Higher Education Regional Office this week
over disputes with school officials on proposed increases in tuition and other
fees.
BY RONALYN V. OLEA Students from four of
country’s biggest tertiary private schools will file complaints opposing tuition
hikes before the Commission on Higher Education Regional Office (CHEDRO) in
Pasig
City this week. They are also asking the House
of Representatives to intervene. Students spearheaded by
their leaders from the University of Santo Tomas (UST), University of the East (UE),
Philippine Maritime Institute (PMI) and Far Eastern University (FEU) will troop
to the CHEDRO Office next week to file their complaints. Violations
Rizza Ramirez, national
president of the National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP), condemned
the school officials for violating the guidelines on the conduct of
consultations for tuition increase proposals as cited in the CHED memorandum No.
13. “We demand that the CHED
reject applications of these schools for tuition increases,” Ramirez said. For instance, Ramirez said,
the UST administration did not comply with the prescribed 15-day prior notice.
The notice for the meeting, dated Feb.4, was given to student council officers,
Feb. 5. UST officials and the students met in a dialogue on Feb.19, or one day
short of the prescribed period. The administration proposed a four-percent
increase in tuition. Furthermore, the NUSP
president said, the UST administration has also failed to comply with the 70-30
percent incremental proceeds of the previous tuition increases. According to
the law, 70 percent should be allotted for the increase in salary and other
benefits of the faculty members and employees. Thirty percent must be allotted
for the improvement of facilities. However, the UST Faculty
Union (USTFU) revealed they have not received an accumulated P40 million of
their share from the proceeds of tuition hikes in the last five years. The
Samahan ng Manggagawa sa UST also hit the UST administration for refusing to
enter into the negotiations for the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). In their letter of
complaint, UST student leaders accused the administration of using fraudulent
amounts as current tuition rates in their proposal. Based on the proposals they
received, the current rate of tuition in undergraduate courses is P864.60 per
unit. However, students’ registration forms this year show that they are
already charged P900 per unit. Fake
arbiters Meanwhile, NUSP said the UE
administration violated Article 6.3 of the CHED memorandum which states that a
multi-sectoral committee composed by CHEDRO shall resolve any dispute arising
from tuition increase consultations. In the Feb. 22 dialogue, student councils
unanimously opposed the proposed ten-percent tuition increase. The UE
administration selected “arbiters” from the UE Alumni Association to resolve the
deadlock in the consultations. As expected, the “arbiters” favored the tuition
hike, NUSP said. As one of the top earning
schools in the country, the UE can operate for years without increasing its
tuition, Ramirez said. The CHED must deny UE’s application for tuition hike
alongside other colleges and universities included in the Top 1,000
corporations, she added. UE ranked 517 in the top corporations in 2003 with a
profit amounting to P63.26 million. Meanwhile, a group of FEU
students said campus activists were barred from participating in a dialogue
called by their administration. No representatives from the faculty and
non-teaching personnel as stated in the CHED memorandum, were present either.
Like UE, FEU was among the
top earning schools in 2003. FEU ranked 272 with a profit amounting to P155.79
million. Students from PMI Institute
in Manila will also file similar complaints before the CHED. The PMI
administration failed to post notices on the 15-percent proposed tuition hike,
the students said. Other fees UST students also
questioned the legality of charging laboratory tuition fees ranging from
P1,276.30 to P1,729.20 per unit. Separate laboratory fees and tuition are
collected from the students. The P500-medical and dental
fee will be increased by 40 percent, it was reported. In a survey conducted by
the Alliance of Concerned Thomasians, about 35 percent of the total collection
from this fee was consumed last year. Only 54 percent of the respondents
actually availed of the university’s health services. The UST administration also
plans to impose a 67-percent hike in other fees including a new bar operations
fee charged to sophomore and junior law students. Ramirez, who is from the
University of the Philippines,
hit CHED for not doing anything about the rising cost of education. “CHED
officials have repeatedly pointed to the Education Act of 1982 as the culprit to
tuition increases. The CHED does not have the political will to protect us from
grand extortions,” she said. Ramirez called for the
intervention of the House of Representatives. “We are seeking a House
investigation of the violations committed by schools and the immediate review of
the Education Act of 1982.” Bulatlat © 2004 Bulatlat
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