tuition hike and betrayal
accurate as of last night, seven members of the up board of regents approved the 230 percent tuition increase by unanimous vote. it is still subject to confirmation whether the new tuition is really P800/unit or still at the controversial P1,000, with the P2,500 miscellaneous fee from P615.if you think this alone is the major issue here, think again.
we were so betrayed.
turns out, it wasn't so unanimous because both the student and faculty regents, the sole representatives of the sectors greatly affected by the hikes, weren't notified where the meeting was to be held. in effect, they were uninvited.
another telltale sign of betrayal was the odd time and venue for the meeting. bor meetings are usually done every last thursday of the month, at 10am, in a designated room at the topmost floor of quezon hall. it's never done on a friday, in the afternoon. so this is a very patent indication that the up administration is hell-bent on railroading the increase. and, in effect, voiding any justification for the university to demand for greater state subsidy. if we stretch the argument further, it is an indication of complete state abandonment of education.
in one of the forums of a personals site touching on the tuition increase, i was shocked to see people actually agreeing to something that defeats the entire thesis statement of the university of the philippines being a "state university." my arguments flowed as follows:
i will have to disagree with the other posts in this thread about the increase being a nice move. first of all, the university is duly entitled by the constitution to state subsidy. to source income from outside this state subsidy bracket runs against the entire thesis statement of up being a state university.
second, an increase is not automatically tantamount to high standard education. if we look at the state universities of other countries in the asean region, bulk of them are fully state-subsidized. and their quality of education is superior to that of private universities in the country (not that i'm disparaging the high-profile private universities here, because i also came from one before i went to up).
third, the proposal is shady. bulk of the university's expenses, such as maintenance, personal services (salary) and security are directly funded by and allocated for in the university's revolving fund, which runs to the billions. an increase does not automatically guarantee higher salaries for teachers, because the university, being a government institution, is controlled by the salary standardization law. there was no direct and explicit proposal by the up administration as to where the revenue generated by the increase will go to. also, the budget for the construction of new buildings is allocated in the budgetary proposal of the university to the lower house and the senate. none of it come from the revolving fund. that's why kapag niriri-enact ang budget, nauuwi sa wala yung subsidy for up, lalo na kung tapos na ang building na itinayo last year.
fourth, the relative wealth of up students is no justification for the increase. just because nauubusan ng parking space sa as kapag enrollment does not mean mayayaman ang mga taga-up. bulk of the university's students are either below the poverty line, or are from the provinces. and the only reason that they're thought of as rich is because bulk of these students are placed under bracket 9 of the superiorly inefficient stfap system. this increase is tantamount to total disregard for the basic right of these students to have a stab at tertiary education that's actually good for them.
and fifth, sure, tertiary education is not a right, but a privilege. but we have to argue in the context of up as a state university, which is mandated to provide education to those who don't have the capacity to enroll themselves in commercialized private universities. these students you give education to in up will eventually give back to the country in terms of public service, as indirectly stated in the verbal student contract a student has with up the moment he or she steps in. to deprive these students of the right to gain the capacity to render service to the country is tantamount to treachery to the country. and, in effect, its people.
and this is what we have to stop.
_______________________________
to tell you the truth, when i got the message from two close friends of mine, last night and early this morning, i cried. i shouldn't have a reason to, other people would posit, because only incoming freshmen would be affected by the increase. but that's hogwash. the sole idea that the university is being betrayed by the people who are supposed to help it rise from the cesspool it got itself into, by rhe people who should be at the forefront of fighting for greater state subsidy not just for up but for education as a whole, is downright disappointing to say the very least.
and this, my friends, is a call to drastic measures.
xanananananana
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