DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Apr. 1, 2013) – With coffin marked ‘iskolars ng bayan’ and satirical school logos depicting the commercialized state of Philippine education, multi-sectoral organizations led by progressive youth groups held a rally Monday at the regional office of the Commission on Higher Education here and called for a halt on unabated tuition and other fee hikes.
“Today is the deadline for petitions on impending tuition fee increases. And we came to show the present and grim state of the youth and the education system under the neoliberal, elitist and anti-people policies of Aquino,” Rendell Ryan Cagula, coordinator of League of Filipino Students Davao, said in a statement sent to the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
Protesting groups carried the satirical logos of schools in Davao City with names changed to expose the present state of educational institutions. The University of the Philippines is lampooned as University of Profit, while University of Mindanao as University of Money.
“This is not to ridicule the schools, but this is the youth’s expression denouncing the further commercialization of HEIs and to register our calls for radical solutions and systemic change,” Cagula said.
Penelope Gil, regional coordinator of the Kabataan party list, has challenged CHED to prove that it is not a “literal stamp pad,” which is apparent in its previous actions that contributed to the skyrocketing cost of education.
Gil, citing reports, said of the 1,800 HEIs nationwide, at least 451 have already filed petitions to increase tuition for the academic year 2013-2014; and 95 of which are from the National Capital Region, while 31 are from the Davao Region.
“We grimly remember how CHED approved petitions of more than 300 HEIs to increase tuition fee collection for the present school year, and this is not far from happening again given the CHED’s toothless regulatory mechanisms” Gil said.
Gil also cited how CHED admitted, when asked by National Union of Students of the Philippines last month that it has no clear mechanism to ensure the compliance with the minimum standards set by CHED Memorandum 3 series of 2012. She added that this only shows that CHED is inutile.
“We urgently call for the Aquino and CHED to implement the moratorium to all tuition hikes for next year in both public and private schools” she said.
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