CHEd welcomes petition asking SC to stop tuition hikes

Photo courtesy of CHEd

MANILA—The Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) would welcome a ruling from the Supreme Court on the extent of government regulation of tuition in private schools.

CHEd Chairman Patricia Licuanan said the move by militant groups asking the Supreme Court to stop tuition hikes this year in 354 private colleges and universities should settle the legal basis for tuition increases in private schools.

In a petition filed Wednesday, the Kabataan party list and the National Union of Students of the Philippines asked the Supreme Court to issue a temporary restraining order against the latest round of fee increases.

They questioned the constitutionality of Section 42 of BP 232 and CHEd Memorandum Order 3 s. 2012, claiming “both law and regulation does not constitute reasonable regulation and supervision of all educational institutions as required by the 1987 Constitution.”

“It will settle a lot of issues. They seem to question the legality, the legal basis for schools to raise tuition. I would be happy that that would be settled once and for all,” Licuanan said Friday.

CHEd, which oversees higher educational institutions in the country, tries to strike a balance between ensuring access to higher education and the right of private schools to raise fees to sustain operations, Licuanan said.

“From our end we have always recognized that it is their right [to increase tuition]. The law allows them to do that, we cannot stop them as long as they do these consultations,” she said.

“If the Supreme Court says ’No, it’s illegal’ or ‘You can stop them,’ that settles things for us,” she added.

CHEd had approved the increase in tuition and other school fees this year in 354 private colleges and universities, out of the 451 schools that asked for permission to do so.

This represented 21 per cent of the 1,683 intitutions of higher learning in the country, excluding those in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao.

CHEd said that on average, tuition will increase by P37.45 per unit or by 8.5 per cent, while other school fees will increase by P194.62 or by 7.58 per cent.