Free education law now

The National Union of Students of the Philippines slams the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Duterte administration Monday for the "yet another" postponement of the release of the free education implementing rules and regulations (IRR).

March 5 was supposedly the date when the Unified Student Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education (UniFAST) Board presents the final IRR of RA 10931 or the "Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act" to the Committee on Technical and Higher Education (CHTE) of the House of Representatives (HoR).

Commission on Higher Education (CHED) OIC Prospero de Vera also promised that the IRR will be available on February 22.

"My commitment is that by February 22, we would finish it and have it signed and put it out publicly after that," the CHED OIC said.

However, the UniFAST Board claimed that the IRR needs another set of review before passing it to the committee.

CHED and Duterte are not just slacking anymore; rather, they are purposefully delaying the implementation of the free ed law. After all, the 211 days that passed after the law had been enacted speaks loudly of their insincerity and unwillingness to provide the youth of their right to education.

CHED is still Commission on Highly Expensive Education. We have warned them that they are creating their own problems by complicating the implementation of free education in the country. Why do they find it difficult to understand that free education means scrapping all forms of tuition and other school fees (TOSF) collection?

It is CHED's bias towards the interest of private higher education institutions that creates much more complicated schemes like Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES) and student loans. CHED itself is hesitant to implement the law now.

With CHED and Duterte's inutility, SUCs are still free to maneuver the implementation of the law. Some SUCs still are unstoppable in collecting TOSF. CHED, being the number one violator of students' right to education, must ensure that collected TOSF is refunded to the students immediately.

Student leaders from various universities also expressed disappointment over the delay of the implementation of RA 10931.

In a unity statement with the NUSP, around seventy student regents, trustees and leaders all over the country called on CHED for the immediate implementation of the free ed law and the termination of TOSF collection in SUCs. The unity statement also called for the refund of collected TOSF.

CHED and Duterte still do not see how urgent this is for the students. It is the fruit of the students' action after all. Who are they to delay and revoke the students' victory? We are being pushed by this Commission to conduct more massive and militant protests.

Kenji D. Muramatsu

Media Liaison

National Union of Students of the Philippines