A day before classes start
Students and teachers march to Mendiola

Press Release
June 9, 2008

A day before classes for the new school year start, students and teachers marched toward Mendiola Bridge today to protest the rising cost of education in the country.
The protesters, which were led by the League of Filipino Students (LFS) and the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) came from various high schools and universities around Metro Manila.

“Because the cost of education continues to increase, more and more families find it difficult to send their children to school and as a result, the annual enrollment rate continues to drop,” said Vencer Crisostomo, national chairperson of the LFS.

“Arroyo’s order against uniforms in public schools and her 1-billion peso subsidy barely scratch the surface of the problems that plague basic education in the country. These are mere stop-gap solutions intended to boost Arroyo’s popularity,” said Crisostomo.

“In reality, the government spends only seven pesos per student per day. If Arroyo is sincere in improving the quality of education, she could begin by increasing that amount,” said the youth leader.

The students added that today’s protest marks the beginning of their balik eskuwela, balik protesta campaign and warned of more protest actions in the coming weeks. ###

Reference:
Vencer Crisostomo, National Chairperson, venzie@gmail.com, 09228262606

Ron Villegas, National Vice-chairperson and Information Officer, ronvil@gmail.com, 09157991059