Education for Sale

          While the NORSU stakeholders, particularly the students and parents, are enjoying the decreased miscellaneous fee brought by the resolution approved by the university’s Board of Regents (BOR), it is saddening to know that the students of other higher education institutions are carrying in their shoulders the burden of having an increased tuition and other school fees approved by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) on May 19. There were at least 313 private higher education institutions (PHEIs) permitted to have these fee increase––a figure bigger than the 287 schools permitted in 2014.

          In the data released by CHED, these schools were approved to have a 6.48 percent tuition increase for academic year 2015-2016. It can be noted that the supplementary guidelines of CHED publicized in April 2015 only paved a way for the school administrators to take advantage by setting overpriced tuition fees and unreasonable presence of other school fees (OSF) that only resulted to an unaffordable education for a common Juan.

          In fact, it is not quite reasonable for CHED to base these increase in regional inflation rate simply because of the inadequate regular workers’ minimum wage which can’t fully suffice the needs of common Filipino families which include education.

          More so, the collection of the “confusing” and overpriced OSF in both state universities and colleges (SUCs) and PHEIs like Laboratory Fee, Development Fee, Energy Fee, Multimedia Fee, Aircon Fee, Sports Development Fee, Athletic Fee, PE Fee and other not-so-familiar fees are being shouldered and paid by the students which should’ve been included in the students’ tuition fee and should’ve not been collected anymore.

          If we are to conclude, the government’s implementation of deregulation and commercialization in education only deprives the common Juans to experience the thrill of college education. This only paves a way for opportunist/capitalist/profiteer to earn millions out of the commercialized education.

          Is this a part of the tuwid na daan promised to us by the government a few years ago? If yes, then there’s no reason for us to let another tuwid na daan successor to lead and rule our nation! What we need is someone who is not a puppet of capitalists and influential countries like US, someone who can build a new type of government that’s not Manila-centered, someone who is not as dark as his “bad” sides and someone who values education for all types of people. All we need is someone who gives importance to the presence of common and marginalized Filipinos.