Students protest free tuition policy on hearts' day

STUDENTS from the University of the Philippines (UP)-Cebu held a picket rally calling for free education on Tuesday, February 14.

Youth groups Anakbayan and Kabataan Partylist denounced Department of Management (DBM) and Commission on Higher Education's (Ched) released draft of the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the free tuition policy.

Myles Albasin, Anakbayan UP Cebu chairperson, said “The IRR tries to manipulatively direct all SUCs (State Universities and Colleges) to implement UP’s current [Socialized Tuition Scheme] designed for further commercialization of SUCs nationwide.”

Socialized Tuition Scheme (STS) is the tuition system implemented in UP which claims to give more opportunity for less privileged youth to go to college by collecting higher tuition rate from students coming from families with higher income while collecting lower tuition from under privileged families.

Albasin denied such claims, saying, “The socialized tuition, since its conception, was primarily used to justify the increases in tuition and other fees. From a tuition rate of 40 pesos per unit, students had to pay 1,500 pesos per unit after the implementation of STS in 1989.”

The student leader also said that the proposed IRR does not address the issue of commercialization of education because even though students will pay less tuition, they still have to pay skyrocketing other school fees in the form of laboratory fees, miscellaneous fees, energy fees and many others.

Anakbayan also slammed the IRR because it only further protects the private sector, ensuring that students can still opt for private schools through the voucher system, just like in the current K-12 program. “This only proves how [the government is] more concerned about losing the private schools losing profit than the Filipino youth actually getting quality education!” Albasin said.

The youth leader ended her speech as she said, “Ayaw na tawon ipaasa ang mga kabatan-onan. Ipatuman na ang saad sa amoa! Free education now!” (PR/SunStar Philippines)