Valentine: A Heartless Month for Tuition Payers

February, known traditionally as the month of the hearts, is turning out as the saddest month for the Filipino youth. Reason: impending tuition hikes in both public and private schools.

By Noel Godinez
Northern Dispatch
Posted by Bulatlat

BAGUIO CITY – February, known traditionally as the month of the hearts, is turning out as the saddest month for the Filipino youth. Reason: impending tuition hikes in both public and private schools.

Speaking in a forum here this week, Rizza Ramirez, president of the National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP), said that 370 out of 1,231 private higher educational institutions (HEIs) have signified their intention to increase tuition for school year 2005-2006. 

Ramirez said that since 1999 to 2004, fees have increased by 64.16 percent with an average of P32.74 per unit.

Ironically, the government aims to further decrease its spending on education. The budget of the Department of Education (DepEd) for the current fiscal year is expected to be slashed by P4.6 billion; state universities and colleges will operate with P950 million less of its 2004 budget of P16.67 billion. 

The premier state university, the University of the Philippines (UP) which has around 40,000 students in different campuses around the country, will suffer the biggest budget cut in its almost century-old operations with a P355.64 million slice in its budget, Ramirez said. 

Added to this, the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) with 50,000 students belonging to the “poorest of the poor” will have P33.57 million less for 2005. The students are facing a P88 increase per unit, from P12 to P100.

Effects of UP’s budget cut

Ramirez said that the budget cut in the UP system will have drastic effects as the decrease is roughly the operating budget of UP Manila, one of the six units of UP system, and “is tantamount to the closure of one unit.” 

“The budget cut threatens the closure of courses (degrees) and programs offered in UP,” Ramirez said. “Furthermore, the budget cut compels state universities and colleges (SUCs) to increase tuition, come up with income generating projects, sell intellectual property rights, among others to augment the meager allocation for SUCs.”

To augment its meager budget, the university has increased fees in graduate courses; laboratory fees from P50 to P600 in specific colleges (departments); and imposed exorbitant fees like late registration fee and change of matriculation fee.

After 13 years of implementation of the Socialized Tuition and Financial Assistance Program (STFAP), tuition in UP increased from P17 to P300 per unit with 83.6 percent of the students ending up paying full tuition.  With this scheme, the university has generated P340.767 million in 2003 and P341.226 million in 2004.

A primer from the Office of the Student Regent-University of the Philippines and the Katipunan ng mga Mag-aaral sa UP (KASAMA sa UP) reveals proposals to increase laboratory fees in UP’s units in Diliman, Manila and Mindanao.

At the College of Mass Communications in UP Diliman, there are plans to increase laboratory fees in Film subjects from P100 to P400, but in one particular subject the increase is P2,000.  In UP Manila, the dental laboratory fee is seen to increase from P2,500 to P11,000.

Also, cellphone charging fee, computer fee, and radio fee are now collected from the students staying in UP dormitories even in the absence of the approval of the Board of Regents (BOR).  The BOR is the policy-making body of the entire UP system.

With all the fees being collected, Ramirez concluded that “The Iskolar ng Bayan has now become a paying scholar.”

Gov’t negligence and mispriority

Ramirez attributed the continuous decline of the country’s quality of education to the negligence and misprioritization of the government. In particular, she cited the failure of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to enforce its phase-out order to 115 health education institutions (HEIs) who had a 5 percent or lower passing rate in the licensure examinations from 1997 to 2000.  Out of 115 HEIs, only 15 have complied.

Furthermore, she also cited the failure of CHED to stop the operations of schools running without government permit.

With CHED’s negligence, Ramirez advised students to ensure that the courses or programs as well as the schools are accredited by the government before enrolling so as not to waste money, time and effort. Graduating in these schools and courses will not ensure jobs simply because the schools are not accredited, she added.

Lastly, she also cited the government’s misprioritizing in its budget allocation with debt servicing eating up 47 percent of the national budget or roughly P359.87 billion while the education’s budget has consistently been decreasing.

With the rising cost of education in private schools, students look forward to enrolling at the state-run universities and colleges, but with the budget cut, these SUCs have no other recourse but to also increase tuition to compensate for its meager budget.  This means higher cost of education in public schools.

“The rising cost of education even in SUCs drive many Filipino students out of schools.  Does this government envision a bleak future with uneducated youth?” she warned. NORDIS / Bulatlat

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