Student leaders from various private universities trooped to the office of the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) in Quezon City yesterday, March 10, to submit their documented position against the planned tuition and other fees increases (TOFI) in their schools. The National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP) latest data indicate that the proposed increases in university fees for the next academic year range from 2% to 10%.

Together with Kabataan Party-list, the NUSP submitted a position paper based on a careful study and consultation with students, they said. It has four main points: TOFI is a burden on students and their families; it is a violation of the right to education; it restricts access to quality education; and it has an effect on social and economic conditions.

“Is a diploma made of gold that it costs the youth millions to obtain it? What kind of right requires Filipino families, students and youth millions to obtain? Education is a right, not a commodity,” Kabataan Party-list spokesperson Atty. Renee Co said.

Every year around February, the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) receives petitions for proposed TOFIs. This “right” to increase fees aligns with CHEd Memorandum Order No. 03 Series of 2012.

Among those who proposed increases are University of the East (5% TOFI), De La Salle University (3%), University of Santo Tomas, Ateneo de Manila University (6%), Adamson University (5%) and other universities in Metro Manila. At Saint Louis University in Baguio City, student actions pulled down the initially proposed 9% increase to 6.25%.

A 3.5% increase is looming at Holy Angel University in Pampanga. In a survey by The Angelite newspaper, three out of four students reject any TOFI for the next year, and over 60% are likely to drop out of school due to TOFI. This is the third fee increase in three years.

The action at CHEd prompted its Chairman Prospero De Vera to face and hold a dialogue with NUSP president Iya Trinidad. De Vera expressed in the meeting the promise to include NUSP in the agency’s National Technical Working Group on Tuition.

Despite this, the student leaders emphasized that their fight is not over. NUSP remains determined in their call to stop and impose a moratorium on all tuition and other fee increases in universities nationwide. They also call for the scrapping of other very expensive fees in schools.