Tuition hike weighs down families, working students

SCHOOL year 2013 means another round of tuition increase and another year of doing double duty for Janice Marsada, incoming third year Mass Communication student at the University of San Jose Recolletos (USJ-R).

The 18-year-old Marsada applied for part-time work as a food attendant in a fast food chain to pay for her tuition this year. Last semester, she paid P25, 000 for her 26 subject.

“Why are they increasing almost every year? Sometimes, it is very discouraging to go to school due to tuition fee increase which happens almost every year,” Marsada said.

She’s determined to finish college to help her single mother, who earns money from selling scrap metal.

For each passing school year, Marsada said she had to cut some simple pleasures to meet her school needs.

She said she had to skip malling with friends and even cut down on meals to spend for photocopies and school projects.

Marsada also started to work as a tutor two years ago.

She earns minimum wage as a food attendant in a fast food chain during the summer break.

Marsada said she hopes to continue her work even when college starts on June 10.

“My job right now would help me but not in a big way because the tuition will increase this semester,” she said.

Marsada also hoped that the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) would do something about reducing tuition instead of allowing it.

“If ila ipadayon ang pag taas sa tuition, basin daghan ang drop out ani. (If the universities would continue to increase its tuition, perhaps, many students would quit school),” she said.

She also asked other students like her to hang on and find means to help support their education.

“Prioritize your needs from your wants because you are still a student. If you spend your money in buying things which aren’t important, you won’t reach your goal. It’s about investing in your future,” Marsada said.

Ched chairperson Patricia Licuanan earlier said a petition 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.

“They seem to question the legality for schools to raise tuition. I would be happy that would be settled with finality,” Licuanan said.

Ched, which oversees higher education institutions in the country, tries to strike a balance between ensuring access to higher education and the right of private schools to raise fees, 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.

Ched 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 about 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 on average, tuition will increase by P37.45 per unit or by 8.5 percent, while other school fees will rise by P194.62 or 7.58 percent. Correspondent Christine Emily L. Pantaleon with an Inquirer report