Sotto urges DepEd to come up with ‘flexible’ tuition payment terms

MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Tuesday called on the Department of Education (DepEd) to work out “flexible payment terms” to ease the burden of many Filipino parents, whose source of income was affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

In a statement, Sotto said: “Private schools should be more accepting of proposed different payment schemes which are more affordable to parents who lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 lockdown.”

The lawmaker said schools should allow the staggered payment of tuition fees “under longer terms to give parents more time and opportunity to save money to pay off the cost of sending their children to school.”

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) earlier reported that millions of Filipino workers have been displaced in recent months when businesses were forced to either close down or reduce their workforce after restrictions were enforced by the government in a bid to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

DOLE estimates five to 10 million workers could lose their jobs by the end of the year due to the pandemic.

With classes set to open on Aug.  24, DepEd recently announced its decision to defer any face-to-face classes until a COVID-19 vaccine could be made available.

Public and private schools and learning institutes nationwide were also encouraged to use available distance learning, e-learning, and other alternative modes of delivery to minimize the risk for students and teachers.

/atm