PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III's plan to cut the subsidy for state universities and colleges for a more self-efficient education system disappoint militant youth groups.
Baguio-Benguet Kabataan party spokesperson Cielo Marie Bayson said this development shows that Aquino's plan for the development of the education sector remains inutile.
Meanwhile, youth group Anakbayan in a statement condemned the initially-proposed national budget for 2011 in which the University of the Philippines has received a staggering cut in its funding while the Armed Forces of the Philippines is set to receive almost double the amount it received last year.
In the proposed 2011 national budget, UP has been allocated P5.5 billion or P1.39 billion less than the money it is supposed to receive this year.
On the other hand, military and defense spending has been hiked by 81 percent or P104.5 billion, the group said.
"Based on this development, it seems the Aquino administration defines 'matuwid na edukasyon' as denying the youth of the right to education" said Anakbayan spokesperson Charisse Bañez.
"Budget cuts on education's budget are tantamount to abandoning the government's responsibility to guarantee every Filipino's right to education," she stressed.
A series of budget cuts under the Arroyo administration served as the school administration's rationale of income-generating measures such as the hiking of the University's tuition rate from P300 to P1000 per unit.
This translates to a matriculation of P18,000 to P20,000 a semester, from the previous year's P5,000 to 6,000 per semester.
Since the implementation of the hike, many courses have experienced zero enrollment from students who passed UP's entrance exam, such as Philippine Studies and Social Work in the UP Diliman campus.(JM Agreda)