Marcos wants probe on miscellaneous fees in some schools despite online classes

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Imee Marcos has filed a resolution seeking a Senate investigation on the supposed addition of miscellaneous fees collected by some top universities in Metro Manila despite the holding of online classes amid the threat of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

In a statement on Friday, Marcos said she filed Senate Resolution 480 on Wednesday, which calls on “the appropriate Senate committee” to conduct a probe on the matter.

Marcos’ resolution read that despite the shift to online learning where students attend virtual classes from their homes because of the pandemic, some private schools, colleges, and universities are still allegedly asking their students to pay for various miscellaneous fees such as laboratory fees, library fees, and internet fees, among others. These fees said Marcos, should have not been collected as there are no actual “face-to-face” classes.

One example that the senator cited in her resolution was when the University of the East (UE) Student Council wrote a letter to the Commission on Higher Education (CHED),  informing it that the university, despite holding online classes, still charges P50,000 to P60,000 in fees to allegedly include other expenses that would have been incurred in regular, face-to-face learning.

Such fees, according to Marcos, are “unnecessary and unconscionable.”

“Schools should not be playing blind and profiting on what they would no longer provide. Parents and students should definitely be paying less,” the senator said.

“A Senate investigation is in order if the Commission on Higher Education cannot settle this controversy before classes resume in late August,” she added.

CHED chairman Prospero de Vera III said that colleges and universities who will be using  “flexible learning”—which uses digital and non-digital technology—can start classes by August.

/MUF