CEBU, Philippines — The Commission on Higher Education-7 has approved the application of at least 28 private colleges and universities in Central Visayas for an increase in tuition and other school fees.
CHED-7 Director Maximo Aljibe said they have endorsed to their head office 28 out of 37 applications.
If the national office approves the applications, the new tuition and fees may take effect this incoming school year. CHED-7 is withholding the names of the schools until its central office makes a final decision by June or July.
Aljibe said the applications came from both private and state owned schools but the applications of state universities and colleges (SUC) were disapproved because SUCs and local universities and colleges (LUC) are barred from increasing tuition within the five-year transition period from free tuition implementation.
Among the SUCs whose application was rejected is the Lapu-Lapu City College.
Meanwhile, applications of the other schools were rejected for their failure to submit all requirements.
LLC was among 22 schools that asked to increase their tuition and fees for all year levels. Thirteen of these 22 schools got the CHED-7 endorsement.
Fifteen schools asked to increase tuition only for its first year students and these all got a CHED-7 endorsement.
Despite opposition, Aljibe told reporters that the increase is justifiable since schools also need to address certain problems, including the salary of their teachers, which is among the common reasons for the application.
Other reasons include improvement of facilities, which is valid considering that schools need to step up to the demands of the implementation of the K-12 program.
Aljibe said other private schools, especially those that have not increased their tuition for several years, need to increase the tuition now at a rate that would complement the current value. He said the range of increase follows the 5.6 percent "inflator" set by the Philippine Statistics Authority in the region.
Protest
The CHED decision, however, does not sit well with some students and youth groups. Yesterday, they held a protest outside the CHED-7 office.
“We challenge the Commission on Higher Education that if it genuinely cares for the right of the Filipino students to quality and accessible education, then it should listen to our demand to stop tuition and other school fees increases,” said Joahanna Veloso, Associate Vice President for Visayas of the National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP) and former president of the Supreme Student Council of the University of San Carlos.
“Every year, CHED has been approving the proposal of Private Higher Education Institutions to increase their tuition and other school fees. Last academic year, CHED has allowed an average of 12-percent increase of tuition and other fees in Central Visayas,” she said.
She said a higher tuition rate is a burden, especially to parents with meager salaries.
Youth orgs spearheaded by the NUSP Cebu, Rise for Education Alliance Cebu, College Editors Guild of the Philippines Cebu, Kabataan Partylist Cebu, Anakbayan Cebu, Students Alliance for Nationalism and Democracy-USC, and Nagkahiusang Kusog sa Estudyante- UP Cebu led the call against "commercialization" of education, stating that students have become “milking cows” by school administrations. (FREEMAN)