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CEBU CITY, Philippines - At least three private schools in Cebu will still increase their tuition despite President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's appeal not to implement a tuition hike.
The private school owners and officials said they had to implement the increase for the school year 2008-2009 to raise funds for corresponding increases in the salaries of teachers and staff and to upgrade their facilities.
Arroyo's plea came after she ordered on Monday the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) to freeze tuition increases of state universities and colleges.
Jose Manny Birgonia, president of the College of Technological Sciences, said their school needs to increase its tuition because of the high cost of energy and to also upgrade their facilities.
“As a technical school, we have to put up our investment and upgrade our equipment. We have to use materials to simulate the skills. You cannot simulate with pen and paper,” he said.
Cebu Provincial Board Member Agnes Magpale, who owns the Northeastern Cebu Colleges in Danao City, said the appeal of President is also late because they are already more than halfway into the enrolment period.
Her school is implementing a five percent tuition increase - the first increase in their eight-year history.
Magpale admitted this is a dilemma for her, especially that she is also in public service, being a legislator for the province of Cebu. She wants to heed the call of the President.
However, she said, her school could not sustain its operation with their old rates, which is around P250 per unit, because of the rising cost of electricity and other operating costs like telephones and the Internet, as well as salary increases for their teachers.
Dr. Potenciano Larrazabal Jr., who owns the Cebu Doctor’s University, said they will implement the six percent increase in tuition, which is not for the school’s benefit but mostly for the salary increase of their teachers and non-teaching personnel.
He said 70 percent of the increase will go to salary increase, 18 percent for the school improvement and only 12 percent for the university.
Besides, the regional tripartite wages and productivity board (RTWPB 7) has recently approved a P17 wage increase, therefore, they have to give that to their teachers and personnel too.
Larrazabal said if their teachers will not be given good salaries, the school will lose all of them because of good opportunities abroad.
However, lawyer Nendell Hanz Abella, University of Cebu (UC) vice president for administration, said the UC management has yet to discuss the order and appeal of the President.
But Abella assured that UC will always impose minimal tuition increases, between 5 to 10 percent, but this will only apply to first year students because the school will no longer increase their tuition to students who are already enrolled until the students graduate from elementary, high school or college.
Meanwhile, the CHEd 7 will issue a memorandum dissuading public and private colleges and universities from pursuing tuition hikes that were already granted by their office for this school year.
The announcement by Dante Cabunilas, supervisor and coordinator of tuition applications of CHEd 7, came in the wake of President Arroyo's order to freeze tuition hikes in all state universities and colleges in the country.
Cabunilas said the memo will be sent upon receipt of the official order from the Office of the President or from the CHEd central office.
Refund students
However, on Tuesday, realizing that the enrollment period is over, President Arroyo ordered the state universities and colleges (SUCs) that charged higher tuition this school year to refund their students or else credit their payment for the next semester.
And because the government has no hold on private higher education institutions, education officials said they could only appeal for them to do the same.
At the same time, CHED is extending the enrollment period for another week to allow parents and students, who did not enroll this year because of higher tuition rates, to reconsider, given these new directives.
The latest directives from Malacañang came after Tuesday's meeting of President Arroyo and her Cabinet.
CHEd chairman Romulo Neri issued the directives made earlier by the President to all of its regional offices, according to CHEd commissioner Nona Ricafort.
Ricafort said these included the earlier presidential order for CHEd to freeze tuition increases in SUCs and for them to convey her appeal for private higher education institutions to do the same.
Ricafort expressed confidence that the 111 SUCs under CHEd would comply with the directives for a freeze on tuition hikes and for those that raised tuition, to refund students or credit their payment for the next semester.
Actually, she said, not even 10 percent of SUCs increased tuition rates for this school year.
This was also the case for the 1,800 private higher education institutions, with only less than 10 percent hiking their tuition.
Ricafort said they could only "strongly appeal'' to private colleges and universities to freeze hikes in their tuition and for those who have already charged higher fees, to refund them.
Go signal
In Central Visayas, 26 private colleges and universities out of the 153 Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) had earlier been given the go- signal to increase their tuition.
Although none of the more than 20 state colleges and universities in Central Visayas applied for a tuition increase, CHEd 7's Cabunilas said the agency will still send them the memorandum to inform them of the order of President Arroyo.
Cabunilas and CHEd 7 Assistant Regional Director Candelario Aytona, however, echoed the assertion of other education officials that they cannot stop the private schools from increasing tuition fees since section 42 of Batas Pambansa Bilang 232, or Education Act of 1982, allows them to implement tuition increase without any ceiling.
Besides, the CHEd officials said, the President's order to freeze the tuition increase is addressed only to the SUCs.
Aytona explained that it is not the CHEd that approves or decides tuition hikes but it is based on the agreement between the students or their parents, faculty members and the school management.
He said the CHEd only accepts the application of the schools and their regional office will endorse it to their main office for review and evaluation.
“Even our main office could not determine by how much each school should increase tuition because of the law,” Aytona said.
If there are complaints from students or parents against any school that will insist in implementing the tuition increase, Aytona advised them to settle it first with the school management because it will have to go through a long process if it is endorsed to CHEd.
Aytona said that the complaint received by CHEd will be endorsed to the Regional Multi-sectoral Committee on Tuition Increase that is composed of the regional offices of the CHEd, Department of Education, National Economic and Development Authority, Department of Social Welfare and Development, representatives from the schools, student leaders and youth sectors.
The recommendation of this regional committee will then be endorsed to national level for review and evaluation.
Instead of filing a complaint against a tuition increase, Aytona advised the students and the parents, including the teachers, to lobby for congress to amend the BP Bilang 232, to regulate the tuition increase.
“Mas maayo ma-regulate nato ang tuition increase. Like dunay limit that within 5 years, the schools can't increase more than 5-percent,” Aytona suggested.
Knee-jerk reaction
Meanwhile, a party-list youth representative downplayed President Arroyo's statement, calling it a “knee-jerk reaction or a quick fix solution.”
Arroyo’s “solution,” Ernie Edralin, Akbayan youth representative in Cebu, said “would never address the root causes of the problems confronting this country's education sector, which are the results of the government's continued policy of deregulation and privatization.”
“We are reminding the government that a huge percentage of our students are enrolled in private HEIs (Higher Education Institutions). Thus, the “no tuition increase” policy in State universities and colleges impacts a minority of the students sector,” said Edralin in a text message. /With Editorial Assistant Ma. Bernadette Parco, UP Intern Ara Chawdhury and Inquirer report
