THE Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has rejected the call of the Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations (Cocopea) to junk the tuition increase cap this year.

CHED Chairman Carlito Puno said that the students should not shoulder the expenses in improving school facilities.

The schools, Puno reiterated, should put up additional investments if they are thinking of the welfare of their students.

“Why do they have to pass it on to students, if they want to improve or upgrade their facilities they should put up additional capital.” Puno said.

He explained that part of the funds derived from tuition increase, as mandated under the commission’s rules only covers expenditures for operational expenses but not improvement of facilities.

Under CHEd Memorandum 14 schools are mandated to hold consultations with students and parents when seeking tuition increase more than the prevailing 7.5 percent national inflation rate.

Cocopea claimed that this provision would impede the improvement of the quality of education in the country.

Vicente Fabella, Cocopea chairman and president of Jose Rizal University (JRU) also claimed that a looming scenario is emerging wherein parents of those who can afford to send their children to private schools will instead opt to send them abroad to study rather than enroll them here, where tuition is high but schools lack facilities.

Earlier, Cocopea appealed to the CHED to lift the cap on tuition increase for the universities and colleges this year.

Vicente Fabella, Cocopea chairman and president of the Jose Rizal University, said that putting a limit on tuition increase may impede good quality education in the country.

“. . . CHED right now is pushing [for] tuition increase cap, we cannot increase beyond [the] inflation rate . . .  will hurt very much the quality of education,” Fabella said.

CHED guidelines on fee increases provide: “Increases in tuition and other fees over and above the national inflation rate shall be subject to consultation with stakeholders and approval of the Commission.”

“The effect will be very clear down the road, students right now when they graduate even if they work locally, are expected to have global skills which means their skills must be good compared with other countries even if they working locally. If we limit the amount of money the schools can invest in education, the skills won’t happen in four years or they will not be globally competitive.” Fabella explained.

He said that Cocopea will seek a dialogue with CHED to resolve the problem.

“We hope they [CHED officials] would think about this. We are one with the commission in trying to develop education. We just believe that putting a cap on the tuition increase is not the way to promote better education.” he stressed.

Jose Paolo Campos, president of Emilio Aguinaldo College, echoed Fabella’s statement, saying that private educators are afraid that with the implementation of cap on tuition increase, the quality education may be jeopardized.

Cocopea is the umbrella organization of private education groups including the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities, Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines, Philippine Association of Christian Schools and Colleges, Private Technical Institutions and the Philippine Association of Private Schools, Colleges and Universities. It was founded in 1961.

Justifying the cap on tuition increases, CHED quoted President Arroyo as saying: “While respecting the rights of school owners and teachers, the government must . . . strengthen the regulation on such [tuition] increases,” adding that adjustments should be based on the inflation rate of the previous year as determined by the National Economic and Development Authority.

If a school intends to exceed the 10 percent ceiling, it has to seek the approval of parents, students and CHED, which will study the justification of the planned increase.

CHED noted that many schools double or triple their miscellaneous fees and that is one thing that the commission wants to correct with the implementation of the cap.

Under Batas Pambansa 232 or the Higher Learning  Institution Deregulation Act of 1982, schools are required to consult stakeholders before submitting their applications for tuition increase to the CHED.

Any proposed adjustment above the inflation rate will require permission from the student council and the parents’ association. (With M.J. Labitad)

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