Student councils take tuition complaints to CHED

Various student councils in Metro Manila filed complaints with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) yesterday against their respective universities for allegedly implementing tuition increases above the inflation rate.

They also demanded a refund of the fees they paid from the tuition increase and other school charges.

Officers of student councils from the University of Sto. Tomas (UST), University of the East (UE) in Recto and Caloocan, De La Salle Araneta University and the Far Eastern University (FEU) submitted their official complaint letters to the office of CHED Chairman Carlito Puno.

The students also called for a meeting with Puno.

According to the National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP), data from UST showed that a tuition increase of 12.03 percent had been imposed.

NUSP president Marcelo de los Reyes said UE-Caloocan and UE-Manila had increases of 9.93 percent and 10.08 percent, respectively.

The tuition at St. Scholastica’s College Manila was hiked by 7.63 percent and De La Salle Araneta University, 10 percent.

De los Reyes criticized CHED for its alleged "inaction and spinelessness" in enforcing its regulatory powers.

He said that for months now, NUSP has consistently appealed to CHED to take action on the growing number of private higher education institutions (PHEIs) abusively raising their tuition and charging students all sorts of fees that have gone uninvestigated.

The commission failed to make good on its guarantee that it would not allow schools to increase their tuition levels above the inflation rate this school year, Delos Reyes said.

De los Reyes referred to an earlier commitment by CHED to adjust the implementation of Memorandum No. 14, a policy strongly criticized by students for legalizing tuition and other fee increases by doing away with consultations on increases within the national inflation rate cap.

The NUSP said the student protests would continue as long as CHED continues to turn a blind eye to the worsening economic crisis burdening the students and the people.

It cannot continue to ignore calls for genuine reforms to the education system, De los Reyes stressed.

"Clearly, the policies of CHED and the Arroyo government are not designed to promote affordable, quality education," he said.

"The outcome that the Filipino youth and students can expect from such deregulation policies for education are the growing dropout rate, more out-of-school youth, massive unemployment and underemployment — a picture quite far from the bright image Mrs. Arroyo seems to want painted," Delos Reyes concluded. — Sandy Araneta