THE League of Filipino Students (LFS) has condemned the Aquino administration for its position on tuition increases, saying its suggestion for students to enroll in state colleges and universities (SUCs) would not solve the problem.
LFS National Spokesman Charlotte Velasco said that administration’s position is characteristic of the “noynoying” of this administration, “the batugan culture that lets problems worsen, with the government allowing schools to raise tuition as they please, with the Commission on Higher Education [CHED] willing and ready to stamp its automatic approval.”
Velasco added: “The Aquino administration pitches alternatives which do not alleviate the problems of the educational system. Telling poor students to just register in SUCs only worsens such problems. Malacañang simply does not want to act, and if it acts, it will be to pander to the interest of big business interests that now control private colleges and universities.”
“Whether it is in private or in public schools, Aquino can longer deny his gross neglect on the plight of students,” she said.
A total of 370 private universities and 1,299 private elementary and secondary schools are expected to implement tuition increases this year. Malacañang has been releasing statements supporting the school administrators’ applications for increases, alleging that the increases would be necessary to give higher pay to faculty members.
LFS, however, said that tuition increase does not automatically mean salary increases for teachers, citing the case of the University of Santo Tomas (UST), which is managed by the Dominican Order.
Velasco said for the last three years, the UST Faculty Union has been protesting the school administration’s refusal to implement salary increases even as the Dominicans had imposed what it termed as “exorbitant, illegal and unnecessary” tuition increases along with other school fees.
“UST is just one of the many higher education institutions in the country that does not comply with the allocation of 70-percent increases in tuition for the increase in the salaries of teachers as ordered by CHED. This proves that both faculty and studentry don’t benefit from tuition increase while the school administrators amass huge profits,” she charged.
Velasco said that universities such as the Centro Escolar University and Far Eastern University, both of which have applied for tuition increases, are included in the Top 1,000 Corporations in the Philippines.
She argued that such schools are simply profit-oriented institutions.
Velasco also argued the “impossibility” of providing private bank loans for students to enable them to study and graduate, adding that “the effect will be no different to the burdensome experience of students in the US and other countries who have to pay their loans for years due to high interest. It’s like living a lifetime of death.”
The scholarship systems and loans offered in universities also fail to mitigate the impact of exorbitant tuition.
“Let’s refer to the situation at the University of the Philippines, where the socialized tuition scheme STFAP [now, STS] was said to be oriented toward increasing the number of students covered by scholarships. Eventually, STFAP led to tuition increases in UP, and also to the suicide of Kristel Tejada in UP Manila,” she explained.
The alternatives peddled by Mr. Aquino push the youth closer to the edge of misery as they would inflict greater harm to students, parents and teachers.
Velasco accused Mr. Aquino of brazenly consenting to frequent, deregulated tuition increases desired by capitalists at the expense of their obligation to keep education accessible to all. –Marvyn N. Benaning / Correspondent, Businessmirror
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