At the University of Mindanao:Students protest tuition fee increase, Davao City, February 22, 2012

At the University of Mindanao:
Students protest tuition fee increase

Davao City

February 22, 2012

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Davao City – Student protests against proposals of tuition increase in schools continue. Student organizations led by the militant, Anakbayan in the University of Mindanao protested Wednesday (February 22) the proposal of University of Mindanao to raise its tuition by 9.75% in the coming School Year 2012-2013. If approved the new tuition fee will be P395.10 per unit from the current P360.00 per unit.

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Photos courtesy of Ankabyan - UM Chapter


x Press Release February 23, 2012 Students protest 9.75% tuition increase in UM Davao City – Student protests against proposals of tuition increase in schools continue. Student organizations led by the militant, Anakbayan in the University of Mindanao protested Wednesday (February 22) the proposal of University of Mindanao to raise its tuition by 9.75% in the coming School Year 2012-2013. If approved the new tuition fee will be P395.10 per unit from the current P360.00 per unit. “Aside from tuition, the school is intending to raise laboratory fees despite complaints that some fees are not there are such fees being paid but not used by most students like the internet laboratory and Dynamic Education fee” said Jaymac Canceran, Spokesperson of Anakbayan UM Chapter. “The administration disregarded the situation of the students. They did not consulted majority of us for the proposal. The increases are mere profiteering at the expense of the students” he added. Even the proposal for the increase was not widely disseminated in school premises. According to Ched Memo no. 13 there must be notices posted in conspicuous places informing the students about the increase 15 days prior to the consultation with the students. “The pre-consultation process was also violated by the administration as they usually do in the previous years. They invited selected students only. They have been abridging the majority’s acaademic right to be informed and be heard” Canceran said. “In the previous years of ‘pseudo-consultation’, some selected students who joined in the consultation managed to register their opposition but only fell on deaf ears of the administration. The tuition hikes still pushed through,” Canceran added. “These pseduo-consultations are mere presentations since the students’ position were not considered in the decision-making. In general, this is the afflictive state of academic freedom in the higher education institutions--to some degree students are free to say what they want to say while the administration is free to do what they want regardless what the students say,” Canceran said. The students warned that the administration’s reluctance to address the students’ issue will definitely call for more protests. Anakbayan calls on students to actively participate in the coming protest actions against the incessant tuition increases and the commercialization of education. February 28 will mark the day of protests of students against the Commission on Higher Education.### Jaymac Canceran Spokesperson Anakbayan UM Chapter 0948-5485261

			Davao City - Student from University of Mindanao writes his views against the proposed 9.75% increase in tuition on a Freedom Wall. Students lament that most of the miscellaneous fees collected are not actually used by the students. Last Wednesday, students staged a protest action outside UM Matina Campus to oppose the increase.




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PRESS RELEASE February 24, 2012 Reference: Gemma Canalis, 09268884655 Day of Rage against the Education Crisis Students enraged over soaring tuition fees; tells CHED, Aquino to brace for bigger protests Students and youth led by the League of Filipino Students held a protest rally at the Commission on Higher Education in UP Diliman today as part of the Day of Rage against the Education Crisis. Nationwide, chapters of the LFS held similar protest actions. “Amid the worsening economic crisis, Aquino hasn’t made a move to regulate fee increases and the CHED is nothing but a toothless institution. They are left watching businesses as they milk the students and their parents of hard earned money in exchange of education. This is what everything has come to, education is definitely now a commodity.”, said Gemma Canalis, spokesperson of the LFS. "Many will not be able to enroll this coming year because of the greed of the big 'capitalist-educators’ and because the government allows them to feed their greed. Allowing them to raise tuition further is criminal. The CHEd memorandum order 13 which allows capitalist-educators to raise fees according to their whims is criminal in the eyes of the people," said Canalis. Canalis said that the youth are definitely left with no choice but to protest as the fees are just too burdensome to handle for most families of Filipinos earning 404 pesos a day. “The Aquino administration and CHEd don’t quite understand that what we are fighting for here is the country’s future. They adamantly deregulate private school fees and at the same time slash the budgets of State Universities and Colleges. This is well in line with the program of K to 12 that sees Filipino youth as future reserved labor to be peddled abroad. Future looks dim under Aquino.” Canalis warned Aquino of the bigger protests in the coming weeks. “If there something Aquino is good at, it is making an effort to discredit the protests that the people are staging. There is definitely enough reason for the people to be enraged: with the soaring tuition and school fees, and budget cuts amid a downtrodden path of poverty the Filipino people have been walking the past decades.” “On March 2, the youth will definitely take a stand and let Aquino know that we that we know that he is there not for our interests but to protect the interest of the few. It is a duty to protest and resist against a government that deprives the youth of a brighter future.”### ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ February 22, 2012 REFERENCE: Vencer Crisostomo, Anakbayan national chairperson, 09174416739 / 09224290258 [As walkouts vs. tuition hikes begin] Anakbayan to impeachment-crazy Noynoy: What about a Tuition Moratorium? The youth group Anakbayan is calling on President Benigno 'Noynoy' Aquino III to stop his 'unhealthy obsession' with the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona, and give attention to student demands for a freeze of university tuition and other fees this year. The group made the call for a 'tuition moratorium' today, alongside campus protests in the University of Sto. Tomas and the Polytechnic University of the Philippines. In the former, there is a proposed 6% across-the-board tuition increase; while in the latter, students are apprehensive that budget cuts to their University will lead to 'commercialization' schemes such as a proposed 2000% tuition hike last 2010 (which was eventually junked by the iconic 'chair burning' protests). Despite the meteoric rise of the cost of a college education in the past decade, both private and public universities continue to hike their tuition and other fees: the University of the East's Recto campus has a proposed increase of 3-5%, while the De La Salle University's Main campus has a 3% hike. Many university administrations nationwide are currently holding 'token' consultations regarding possible increases in their schools. Since 2001, the average nationwide tuition rate has more than doubled from P257.42 to P537 per unit, or from P19,307.16 to P38,829.60 per year for two 18-unit semesters. According to the Commission on Higher Education itself, more than 80% of all college students do not finish their studies, an amount currently equivalent to 2.1 million people. “Why can’t Noynoy be as ‘obsessed’ with making education accessible as he is with the impeachment trial?” lamented Vencer Crisostomo, national chairperson of Anakbayan. “If he can decisively mobilize government officials to quickly impeach the Chief Justice, why can’t he do the same to put a moratorium on all tuition increases in effect?” he added. Students from various campuses across Metro Manila will be holding protests this week to compel the Administration into taking action: 22 – ‘Indoor Rally’: University of Sto. Tomas; Walkout: Polytechnic University of the Philippines 23 – ‘Unity March’ across Diliman: University of the Philippines Diliman; Intramuros-wide March: Intramuros-area Schools 24 – March to Mendiola: University of the Philippines Manila, University of the East; March to CHED: Other schools 28 – Nationwide protest: Deadline of submitting tuition proposals to the CHED			February 23, 2012 REFERENCE: Vencer Crisostomo, Anakbayan national chairperson, 09174416739 / 09224290258 Youth group wants CHEd chief to resign; tuition hikes stopped Youth group ANAKBAYAN today called on Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) chairperson Patricia Licuanan to resign from her post amidst looming tuition hikes set again this year. According to Vencer Crisostomo, national chairperson of ANAKBAYAN, CHEd under Licuanan has failed to fulfil its duty to regulate school fees and stop annual tuition hikes, causing an ever increasing number of drop-out rates among the youth. “Licuanan and the Aquino government promised greater access to education and regulation on fees. After more than a year in office, they have done nothing. The problems regarding skyrocketing tuition rates have worsened and the number of drop-outs have increased,” said Crisostomo. Tuition rates are again expected to rise this year, as the deadline for consultations for tuition hike proposals end on February 28. According to the National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP), about 400 schools this year are proposing tuition increases ranging from 10 to 15 percent, not including other miscellaneous fees. According to data from CHEd, more than 80% of college students drop out due to rising tuition rates, or equivalent to 2.1 million students last year. Crisostomo said not a few student leaders have filed complaints regarding unjust tuition increases and other fee impositions during the past years but are approved by the CHEd anyway. Due to the increasing number of complaints, Congress held several hearings and agreed that government should address “unjust and absurd fees”, prompting a statement from Malacanang promising the public that CHEd will soon come up with new guidelines. “To the dismay of students, CHEd has not issued new guidelines in time for the consultation period. They presented various drafts, but said they intend to implement new guidelines not this coming school year but in 2013-2014. This is tantamount to tolerating abusive and questionable fee impositions,” said Crisostomo. He said the government should be more sensitive to the plight of the poor families which, due to increasing tuition rates, are not able to send their children to school. Crisostomo said that “directly or due to their neglect, CHEd has been in cahoots with capitalist-educators in raking record high profits while robbing the youth of their rights.” He cited financial records of the top 5 highest earning schools which reflected net profit of P3.45 billion during the past 6 years, raking P15.43 billion in gross revenues. In 2010 alone, Far Eastern University (FEU) posted P585 million in profits, while University of the East posted about P300 million. FEU also registered an increase in profits in the past 9 months after it increased tuition rates last year. Some of the schools set to increase tuition this year are University of Santo Tomas, which proposed a 3-6% increase for most colleges and as much as 19% for some freshmen; University of the East will likewise increase tuition by 3-5%; FEU by 4.8%; and De La Salle University by 3%. ANAKBAYAN, NUSP and other youth and student groups said a moratorium on all tuition and other fee hikes should be imposed by the government this year and a thorough review of all tuition increases during the past years should be done. “We have had enough of government neglect regarding tuition hikes. Ultimately, government should make sure that every Filipino has access to free and quality education at all levels and should stop further commercialization of the educational system,” he said. ### -- Anakbayan Public Information Committee Contact us at: anakbayan.media@gmail.com / +639175197758 Visit the Online Campaign center @ anakbayan.org "Only through militant struggle can the best in the youth emerge"

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