Hundreds of students of the University of the Philippines Diliman walked out of their midterm classes on Thursday to protest the continuing collection of tuition and other fees despite the Duterte administration’s additional P8.3-billion funding to provide free tuition for state universities and colleges.
“Our demand is to have free education now. Most UP students are still paying tuition despite promises of free tuition for state universities. As it is now only a few students will be given free tuition based on socioeconomic status and academic standing,” said Anakbayan National secretary general Einstein Recedes, in a statement.
Following the Commission on Higher Education and Department of Budget and Management April 20 Joint Memorandum, the UP administration launched the Student Financial Assistance project which determines which students should benefit from free tuition.
Under the SFA, students who are recipients and beneficiaries of various student financial assistance programs and the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program will be prioritized for free tuition. Those who are not qualified will still pay school fees under UP’s Socialized Tuition System.
“UP has been given P367 as allocation to make tuition free for its undergraduate students. There is no reason why UP cannot stop collecting tuition except for the constant itch to suck profits from students and their families. This is neoliberalism at its finest,” said Recedes.
Data from the UP Office of Student Regent shows that UP has extracted massive profits from tuition and other fees, with UP under-declaring its actual tuition collection of around P900 million for last year. The cash balance in the university’s revolving fund has soared from P5.5 billion in 1999 to P12 billion by 2015.
“We cannot allow the intensified commercialization of UP consistent with neoliberal policies that transform educational institutions into profit-making diploma mills that mass produces cheap labor for export. We must fight for a nationalist, scientific, and mass-oriented education,” said Recedes.
More protests are set to drumbeat the call for free education for all students this month culminating in a July 20 National Day of Action and massive youth protests in time for President Rodrigo Duterte’s July 24 State of the Nation Address.
Meanwhile, the additional P8.3-billion allocation for State Universities and Colleges is a substantive step forward for the student movement, said Miguel Aljibe, chairperson of the University of the Philippines Manila University Student Council.
It aims to make public higher education tuition-free. However, according to a recent dialogue with UP president Danilo Concepcion, it has been made clear that UP is still set to collect tuition from students despite the additional budget and billions worth of income from years’ worth of profiteering from students.
Last month, the university released the Student Financial Assistance Online, a consolidation of all financial assistance programs such as the Free Tuition Policy guidelines, Socialized Tuition System application, and Tulong Dunong Grant. This move unveiled UP’s continued implementation of mechanisms that veer students away from their right to education.
“Despite the availability of funds to make tuition in UP free for all its enrollees, the UP Administration had admitted that students will still be charged with tuition fees. What has been done is a mere consolidation of existing policies to produce the Student Financial Assistance Online program. Students will be compelled to undergo a stringent qualification process, and lured to an expanded tuition discount system. This is diametrically opposed to and contrary to the spirit of making tuition free for all,” said Aljibe.
He claimed that while other SUCs are already geared not to collect tuition from students, UP stays true to its neoliberal thrust of keeping free education at bay. UP has long been notorious in treating public education as a commodity. In fact, based on the data from the Department of Budget and Management, decades of imposition of fees upon the students have increased the profits of the university.
Constant income flow from students at around a billion pesos annually, stored in fund accounts to accumulate interest, has more than doubled the profits of UP from 1999 to 2015. The cash balance of the university, standing at P5.5-billion at the end of 1999, has ballooned to P12-billion by 2015 and is expected to remain stable as 2017 ends, Aljibe said.
“With such a huge amount in the coffers of UP, we find no justification for the continued collection of fees except for the extraction of profit from the students. We therefore commit to the task making UP education affordable through non-collection of tuition. We challenge the UP Administration to join our ranks and change history by making UP tuition-free by Academic Year 2017-2018,” said Aljibe.