Youth solon warns of possible repercussions as House passes universal tertiary education bill on second reading

Kabataan Party-list warns of possible repercussions as the House of Representatives passed on second reading House Bill 5633 or “An Act Promoting Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education by Providing for Free Tuition and Other School Fees in State Universities and Colleges and State-Run Technical-Vocational Institutions, Strengthening the Unified Student Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education, and Appropriating Funds Therefor.”

“We still observe those contentious provisions that we have pointed out in the past. And we will continue to push for amendments to hopefully improve the bill and advance the demands of the Filipino youth towards achieving free education for all at all levels,” Kabataan Party-list Rep. Sarah Elago said.

“In particular, we will move to: (1) scrap the policy on giving priority to ‘poor but deserving’ students; (2) abolish tuition and other school fees; (3) include graduate students for free education; and (4) scrap the preferential guarantee for private higher educational institutions,” Elago added.

Meanwhile, CHED has yet to release its revised IRR on the implementation of the P8 billion free tuition fund after hundreds of students trooped to CHED offices calling for the junking of the free tuition policy. Youth and student groups has proposed a simpler IRR: provide free tuition for all students, no tuition collection, and prohibit tuition and other school fee increases.

Contentious provisions

The youth solon said that the policy to prioritize “poor but deserving” students is reminiscent of UP’s flawed socialized tuition system (STS) which was used to mask tuition increases and helped UP amass billions of pesos in profit.

“The guise of ‘prioritizing the poor’ has been used to legitimize tuition and other school fee increases under the neoliberal framework of gearing SUCs to generate their own income thru socialized tuition schemes, privatization of school services, and utilization of idle assets,” Elago explained.

House Bill 4800, sponsored by Kabataan Party-list, seeks to abolish tuition and other school fees altogether. The estimated cost of attendance per student will then be used as the benchmark on how much funding SUCs will get each year.

“Although it’s explicitly stated that no tuition and other school fees will be charged from the students, we’re worried that SUCs might increase tuition and other school fees to get more from the free education subsidy fund. At the same time, they’ll be able to increase collection from graduate students who are not covered by free education. That’s why we are also pushing that graduate students be included for free tuition and other school fees,” Elago said.

But perhaps the biggest contention in the bill is the establishment of a National Student Loan Program. The bill proposes to allocate P25 billion for student loans available to students studying in private HEIs and local universities and colleges (LUCs).

“It’s guaranteed profit to private HEIs. It akin to the K to 12 voucher program where funds go directly to private schools. This is one way to appease private schools to somewhat ‘cover’ their expected ‘losses’ due to lower enrollment, similar to the sovereign guarantee given to private concessionaires in Public-Private Partnership projects. We expect it to worsen as private universities are set to increase tuition and other school fees anew next academic year, as CHED prepares to announce a new list of private universities approved to increase tuition fees,” Elago explained.

“Furthermore, considering the high rate of unemployment and underemployment, and the low wage rate in the country, students will remain indebted years after they graduate because they wouldn’t be able to find a stable job that would enable them to repay their loans,” Elago said.

“This is another manifestation of how education has transmogrified into a lucrative business venture where school owners rake in millions of pesos in profit at the expense of students and their families,” Elago added.

Challenge for the youth

“We will continue to push for the passage of the free education bill. In its current state, however, we will have to double our efforts to push forward our proposed amendments,” Elago said.

“The Filipino youth will not stand idly by and let an illusory law pass that does not address the fundamental problems of education that turns public service into a lucrative business, a right into a commodity,” Elago explained.

“We call on the youth to hold bigger protests and intensify the call for free education. We call on President Duterte to heed the demands of the youth and grant free education for all at all levels, prohibit tuition collection, and abolish tuition and other school fees,” Elago concluded.