Few schools applied for tuition fee hike

MANILA, Philippines – Only a few private elementary and high schools have raised tuition fees for school year 2010-11.

Education Secretary Mona Dumlao-Valisno said that less than 10 percent of the 9,995 private schools throughout the country have submitted applications for tuition fee hikes for the coming school year.

In Metro Manila alone, only 107 out of the 1,937 private elementary and secondary schools have applied for tuition fee increase.

“In fact, the number of applications for tuition fee increase in Metro Manila for example have actually declined compared to last year, thus this is good news to parents. Last year 110 private schools in Metro Manila applied for an increase, this year only 107 have applied for an increase,” said Valisno.

In Central Visayas, less than 10 percent of all private schools applied for tuition fee increase. This is the general trend nationwide, DepEd said.

Since last year, the DepEd, through then Education Secretary Jesli Lapus, has issued appeals to private school owners and operators to temper their application for school fee increases considering the financial condition of many Filipino families.

Valisno expressed delight that private schools heeded her appeal to do so again for this coming school year.

“I am glad that private schools have generally heeded our call for responsible stewardship and sensitivity to the plight of many parents. In fact, in the vast majority of private schools, we received no application for tuition fee increase while in those that applied, we are ensuring compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations,” Valisno added.

Under the Education Act of 1982 all applications for increase in tuition and other school fees are subject to the approval of DepEd, thus private schools must comply with the applicable DepEd Orders on the matter before any increase may be imposed.

Valisno directed all DepEd field offices to closely monitor any increase being proposed by private schools in order to protect the interests of parents, students, and the general public.

Assistant Secretary Jonathan Malaya, DepEd spokesperson, said that the main reason cited by private schools in their application for increase was the need to increase teacher salaries, higher operating cost, and the need to upgrade facilities.

He noted that public school teachers were set to receive a new round of salary increases under the Salary Standardization Law III so some private schools were also planning to increase the salaries of their teachers to remain competitive.

He said that private schools must comply with the consultation requirement and the rule on the utilization of increases before any application is approved. –Rainier Allan Ronda (The Philippine Star)