Arroyo’s statements on tuition “only for show,” meaningless if they will not lead to education system reform – LFS

May 26, 2008

As President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is set to make a statement on tuition fees and other education woes today, members of the League of Filipino Students (LFS) led a protest action calling for substantial reforms in the education system.

According to Vencer Crisostomo, LFS national chairperson, the statements the president will be making “will likely be just for show” as enrollment season has already begun and many have already paid their tuition fees.

Crisostomo also said that the president may just be “using the tuition issue to boost her popularity, when in fact, during the most crucial period which was the consultation phase, she lifted the cap on tuition increases and permitted skyrocketing hikes.”

He cited a news article published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer dated January 9, 2008, which reported Arroyo’s approval of the CHEd move to lift the previously agreed upon cap of 7.6%, or equivalent to the prevailing inflation rate.
(http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view_article.php?article_id=111345)

Bogus consultations
“The government policy ever since actually allows unlimited and unjust tuition increases. They try to hide this fact by stating that increases are subject to consultations, but a look at the CHEd guidelines will show that these so-called consultations do not include miscellaneous fees, tuition of incoming freshmen, and ladderized or automatic increase schemes,” Crisostomo said.

He also said that consultations are not actually done as a “process for approval but only to notify.”

“Bogus consultations have become the norm. Even if the students and parents do not approve the proposals, the CHEd does not have the power and does not do anything, for that matter, to stop the increases,” he said.

Most schools also do not comply with the policy stated in the CHEd guidelines that “70% of proceeds derived from the tuition shall be used for increase in salaries and wages of school employees.”

State U’s operating like private schools Crisostomo also said that the Arroyo government is also to blame for the tuition increases in most state universities and colleges.

“We need only to look at the University of the Philippines (UP), which now runs like a ‘private school’ with almost P40,000 per year (P20,000/sem) tuition,” he said.

UP implemented a 300% tuition fee last year, from P300/unit to P1,000. Along with UP, Eulogio Amang Rodriguez Institute (EARIST), one of the schools with the lowest tuition fees, increased by 600%, from P15 to P100.

Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) attempted to increase its tuition from P12.50 per unit to P75 per unit but failed after being faced by student walk-out protests. But according to Crisostomo, students were surprised to learn that the administration was suddenly collecting P250 for “developmental fees.”

U-turn to state ‘responsibility’

Crisostomo said that in order to genuinely address the problems at hand, the government should take a “u-turn” from its deregulation and privatization policy in education. He said reforms should be implemented including raising government subsidy for education and the regulation of tuition fees.

“Fact is, the students and parents of today are being faced by high education costs due to a flawed policy of deregulation and state neglect. The government must reverse this, investigate in order to rollback tuition costs in private institutions and increase state subsidy and lower tuition rates in state run schools,” said Crisostomo. #

Reference: Vencer Crisostomo, LFS National Chairperson 09157991059, 09228262606