DepEd allows 1,299 private schools to raise tuition fees

The Department of Education (DepEd) has allowed 1,299 private schools to increase their tuition fees by five to 35 percent for the academic year 2014 to 2015.

 

In a report of Dante Perello for GMA News, Education Assistant Secretary Tonisito Umali assured the public that the decision to approve the tuition fee hike of private elementary and high schools in the country has gone through the proper consultation process.

 

 

"'Yung mga itataas ng matrikula ay ibabalik sa paaralan o kaya po sa pagtaas ng sweldo ng kaguruan sa pampribadong paaralan," he added.

 

The report said majority of the private schools that were allowed to increase their tuition fees came from Region 6 (Western Visayas) with 311 schools, Region 1 with 246 schools, and Metro Manila with 172.

 

However, the report also noted that at least 11 private schools in Eastern Visayas which have been affected by Typhoon Yolanda last year were allowed to increase their tuition fees.

 

Meanwhile, amid protest from student groups, the Commission on Higher Education has yet to decide on the petition to increase tuition fees in some private colleges and universities in the country.

 

"'Pag mag-e-evaluate ng tuition fee increase, tinitignan ng aming mga regional offices 'yung relationship ng quality ng mga paaralan, at 'yung hinihinging increase, 'yung performance niya, 'yung mga kapasidad ng mga estudyante, na kung kaya ba nilang i-shoulder ang increase," CHED executive director Atty. Julito Vitriolo explained.

 

On the other hand, members of the groups League of Filipino Students and National Union of Students in Philippines on Thursday staged a protest outside the CHED building in Quezon City against the looming tuition fee hike.

 

"Tigilan ang pagtataas ng matrikula, itigil ang paniningil ng mga iba't-ibang sobra-sobrang bayarin sa mga paaralan," said a student.

 

Quoting CHED, the report said around 10 to 15 percent of colleges and universities in the Philippines increase their tuition every year.

 

However, CHED has assured the public that there will be no tuition fee hike at Yolanda-stricken areas. —Amanda Fernandez/KG, GMA News