Adequate consultations needed on tuition raise

MANILA -- Genuine Opposition senatorial candidate Aquilino "Koko"
Pimentel today called for a review by Congress, Malacañang and
education agencies of the policy deregulating tuition fees in schools
to protect students and their parents from excessive and unreasonable
fees that are beyond their financial means.

To that end, schools should not unilaterally raise tuition fees,
Pimentel said. He added that they may do so only after adequate
consultations are done with the parents and students under the active
supervision of the Commission on Higher Education.

Pimentel also warned that government colleges and universities "should
be the last to increase tuition fees because they are the schools of
the people in general and are subsidized heavily by the government."

He stressed the need for a mechanism that will enable the Department
of Education and CHED to determine whether there are justifiable
grounds for the tuition fee increase and whether the additional income
is spent by the schools to upgrade the facilities and increase the
compensation of teachers and non-academic personnel.

"It seems the tuition fee hike has become automatic every year. The
government should do something to stop this unconscionable practice,"
he said.

He said the government should address squarely this pestering problem
of ever-increasing tuition in view of its adverse effect in terms of
reducing the educational opportunities for the poor.

Pimentel also observed that this is one of the major causes behind the
upsurge of protests and activism in the school campuses all over the
country.
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