Various groups slam CHED over college tuition increases

Youth group Anakbayan and other human rights organizations criticized the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Chairperson Patricia Licuanan for belittling protests against higher tuition and other school fees after they claimed that the government official said it is too early to tell if school would raise fees.

“Even as we speak, thousands of youth are dropping out because of higher school expenses. We don’t have Licuanan’s privilege to dilly-dally before we take action. Simple lang naman ang punto. Ayaw naming magmahal. Ayokong magmahal ang matrikula,” said Anakbayan National Chairperson Vencer Crisostomo.

The groups scored Licuanan’s wait-and-see attitude and said “it is typical of the Aquino administration’s pampered and haughty bureaucrats who are heartless or ‘ pusong bato’ as regards the plight of the Filipino people, in this case the Filipino youth and students.”

“How can Licuanan say that student protests against tuition and other fees hike are premature when in the past six years under Aquino, CHED has done nothing but approve proposals for tuition and other fee increases that comes under its jurisdiction?” said Crisostomo.

He said tuition rates and the profits of private universities have doubled from between 30,000 and 50,000 to anywhere from a whopping 60,000 to 100,000 annually during the current administration.

Under Licuanan, CHED functions as a mere rubber stamp to legitimize school fee increases, said Crisostomo.

Various youth and student groups have been holding protest actions leading to massive nationwide walkouts on February 24 and March 11.