Bulatlat

To students and parents being burdened by annual tuition increases, a bill filed in Senate for the purpose of regulating these increases is a welcome development. But there are enough loopholes in the proposed bill that can defeat the very purpose for which it was formulated.

BY REYNA TABBADA
Bulatlat
Vol. VII, No. 42, November 25-December 1, 2007

As tuition fee increases become a prominent feature every start of a new school year, a legislation called the Tuition Fee Rationalization Act or Senate Bill No. 1827 has been proposed. The Act covers primary, secondary, and tertiary education institutions.

According to its explanatory note, SB 1827 aims to “promote affordable access to quality education 'by rationalizing and/or reasonably regulating tuition fee rates and increases in all education institutions including other fees.” However, the said bill contains several loopholes that can defeat the very purpose for which it was formulated.

Regulating council

One of the salient features of SB 1827 is the establishment of the National Tuition Fee Rationalization Council (NTFRAC) and its regional counterpart called Regional Tuition Fee Rationalization Council (RTFRAC). Any tuition and other fee increases will be subject to the approval of the said councils, whose members range from members of both Houses and representatives from other pertinent segments of the education sector.

The NTFRAC shall be headed by the chair of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), a position that will be shared with the secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd). The vice-chairmanship will be given to the Director-General of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). NTFRAC members include representatives from the lower House’s Committee on Higher and Technical Education, the upper House’s Committee on Education, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), the Philippine Association of the State Universities and Colleges. A seat in the said council is also reserved for the following sectors: parents, legitimately recognized students’ organizations, leading associations of private higher and basic education institutions, major groupings of technical institutions, faculty associations and other sectors “deemed indispensable.”

On the other hand, the RTFRAC will include the regional directors of CHED, DepEd, TESDA, and NEDA. Provincial school boards, faculty associations, student councils, parents-teachers association (PTA) and recognized alliances of private schools and state institutions will also be part of the NTFRAC’s regional counterpart.

Selective rationalization

Among the objectives of SB 1827 is to have an “effective and rational mechanism” in determining tuition and other fee adjustments, taking into consideration the socioeconomic status of its stakeholders.

For instance, tuition fee increases without prior consultation can only be imposed to the first and fifth grade level and to incoming high school and college freshmen. Moreover, the adjustments should not exceed 15 percent of the prevailing tuition fee and 25 percent of the miscellaneous fee rates.

But some leeway is given for institutions that want to go beyond the fixed adjustments stated above as this can be allowed “after the concerned schools shall have conducted thorough consultations and hearings, and after the examination of financial records and the determination of the distinct requirements and conditions of school shall have been assessed by the Council.”

In fact, several exemptions are stipulated in SB 1827. Schools and courses that are classified under Level III Accreditation from CHED, DepEd, and TESDA and are recognized by the major association of private and state institutions will be allowed to establish their own fee rate adjustments. And their courses of action will only be “subject to minimal and reasonable guidelines from the Council.”

Paltry punishments

With the NTFRAC and RTFRAC as the implementing bodies, SB 1827 seek to put force into its provision by incorporating several penalties for institutions who will violate its mandates. The punishment ranges from administrative fines to outright revocation of the school’s license to operate. The guilty party can also be disqualified from its privilege to introduce tuition and other fee increases.

Individual offenses merit a fine of not less than P50,000 ($1,166 at an exchange rate of $1=P42.85) to no more than P100,000($2,333), or imprisonment for not less than one year but no more than five years. For an academic institution that has been proven to have violated SB 1827, the fine will amount to not less than P500,000 ($11,668) up to no more than P1,000,000 ($23,337). Bulatlat