Once again summer is over and classes will start next week. Parents and their children would have to deal anew with the perennial problem of tuition hikes that educational institutions had been imposing on them for decades.
I first had a close encounter with the tuition hike issue when I was chosen to become president of the US College Faculty Association (CFA) at a time when the faculty would ask for a salary increase.
A review of the situation would show that funding for salary increases for school personnel can only be sourced from the increment of the tuition hike.
According to a presidential decree issued by the late president Marcos, the increment is to be divided into 70 percent for salary benefits and 30 percent for school development.
During my first term as president, the association created a finance committee that sat down with its counterpart from the USC administration in order to initially discuss the issue of the proposed tuition increase.
It is at this point where the faculty association submits the proposal for the USC finance committee to study and pass on to the USC administration headed by the president. The USC administration through their finance committee then submits a counter proposal to the CFA; negotiations follow at the Labor Management Council while the two committees continue to meet until they reach an agreement on the proposed increase.
Once an agreement is reached it is sealed with sincere handshakes from both parties; the management represented by the USC president and the faculty association by me. After this both the management and the faculty association now consult the students about the proposed tuition increase.
My experience is that the students, especially their representative will always oppose any increase but will eventually submit to the decision made by the management and the faculty association. What is important in the process is that the avenues of communication are always open just like the faculty association members dialoguing with the Supreme Student Council.
During my term I made it a point to join hands with the non-teaching employees group of USC thus ensuring we were united on the issue of the increase.
This made it more convenient for the school administration to talk to one solid group of employees in the university.
By the way as president of the faculty association I was able to strike a three-year deal with the administration wherein I was able to convince the university to grant us an increase for a period of three years without any negotiation.
But we already mutually agreed for a percentage increase for the next three years. Question; Have we found a solution to this issue? So far no solution yet that is why the schools are still asking for a tuition increase.
But I propose that the national government give tax breaks to the teachers in private and public schools so that their take home pay will be substantial.
Doing so, however, would deprive government a hefty portion from their coffers. But I am not losing hope.
After all the teachers are considered as modern heroes responsible for molding the youth to become our country’s future leaders.
I am hoping that finally we may be able to find an answer to the tuition increases that happen every year.
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I am not too sure what the reaction of newly re-elected Mayor Mike Rama is to the COA findings that the city is spending more than what it is earning. But I am pretty sure that Mayor Mike is doing something about it.
I think it is the responsibility of the city government to clarify and set the record straight when it comes to its finances. I believe the city government has enough cash on hand because it is not alarmed by the findings of the COA.