Train Law forces higher than usual increase in school fees

BY THIS time of the year, schools are already preparing to submit applications of raising the cost of tuition and other school fees (TOSF) to the Department of Education (DepEd) and Commission on Higher Education (CHEd).

Around 1,400 private schools, universities, and colleges nationwide are set to apply for six to eight percent increase.

The University of the East proposes an increase of five percent and Ateneo de Davao, seven percent. Other schools applying for the raise include Far Eastern University Senior High School, De La Salle Araneta University, De La Salle University--Dasmarinas, and Ateneo de Naga University.

For the academic year 2018-2019, private schools pointed to the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (Train) Law as a major reason to push for the increase of fees by around six percent, higher than the usual rate of three to four percent.

By continuing to implement the Train Law, the Duterte administration is accountable for pushing the cost of education to go up way beyond its normal rate of increases in past years.

Additionally, the Duterte administration’s laws and policies of deregulation have worsened the status of education in the Philippines as a means of maximizing profit and expanding the market of big capitalists.

The students are seen as money-making machines instead of major stakeholders who strive to study for a successful future.--National Union of Students of the Philippines