Plight of out-of-school youths worse, says students’ group

MANILA, Philippines — Small but scattered protests greeted the opening of classes for colleges and state universities on Monday morning as youth groups expressed outrage over what they saw as an education crisis worse than the previous administration.

“The situation is worse now than during the term of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo,” Charisse Banez, secretary general of militant youth group Anakbayan, said.

Eight million youths are out of school, mostly because they could not afford the increasing tuition and other fees, according to Banez.

Leading a rally of around 30 placard-carrying students in front of the gate of the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) headquarters on Monday morning, Banez said the budget allocation of the national government for education decreased from 13 percent of the national budget in 2010 to 11 percent under the new term of President Aquino.

Protests were also staged at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, University of the Philippines in Diliman, and the Philippine Normal University.

“The ones affected the most by the budget cut are the youths who depend solely on the state-run universities for their college education. But what do you expect them to do if the tuition costs more than their family’s income?” Banez said.

Goper Santos, a 17-year-old highschool graduate who could not afford even the tuition at the city-run Quezon City Polytechnic University (QCPU), is one of the eight million-out-of-school youths.

Joining the Monday’s protests, Santos said he took the entrance exam in QCPU sometime in May this year, but he was discouraged upon learning that he needed to pay P8,000, including the miscellaneous fees in a semester.

“We just could not afford it even in good times… so I gave up,” Santos said, hoping to take a four-year information technology course after graduating from Lagro National Highschool in Quezon City.

The irregular jobs of his parents as a swimming pool cleaner and aircon mechanic make it difficult for his family of five to make ends meet.

This school year, more than 282 private colleges and universities are expected to raise tuition rates by an average of 10 percent, according to CHed.

According to the figure of the National Union of Students of the Philippines, the tuition rate since 2001 has doubled, from the average P257 per unit to P536 this year.

“We have been asking CHEd to impose a moratorium on tuition increase or at least put a cap on the tuition rates. These are within its power,” Banez said.