Students protest free tuition guidelines

MANILA, Philippines - Militant student groups yesterday tore up copies of the implementing guidelines for the free tuition policy issued by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) in protest against what they dubbed as a “free tuition scam.”

Various rallies in different parts of the country were held to protest the policy, which is being criticized for including a “prioritization system” based on the household income of students.

Mark Vincent Lim, spokesperson for the National Union of Students of the Philippines, said the implementing guidelines issued by the government would subject the students to a “competition among the poorest of the poor.”

The guidelines, which set a number of requirements that the students need to submit, will limit the number of beneficiaries of the free tuition policy in state universities and colleges (SUCs), Lim said.

Under the guidelines, students in SUCs will be ranked based on their household income.

A prioritization system based on household income was devised by CHED and the DBM to manage the limitations set by the P8-billion budget.

The students will be further prioritized according to the following order: graduating students (regardless of household per capita income), non-graduating students who belong to a household that is or was a beneficiary of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, non-graduating students belonging to the Listahan 2.0 of the social welfare department, and other students ranked based on per capita household income.

If there are still funds available, incoming freshmen and returning students will also be eligible for the government’s free tuition program in a similar order.

The student groups said the policy should not set requirements and instead provide free tuition for all students.

“By giving SUCs a budget ceiling based on their expected tuition income, expect SUCs to engage in a race for profits as they attempt to meet the ceiling and milk the most out of their free tuition fund,” Kabataan Party-list Rep. Sarah Elago said.

“SUCs can double their profit through the Free Tuition Scam. They can access the fund allotted to them through eligible students, and max out their appropriation through tuition increases, and still continue tuition and other school fees collections from those who will not be eligible to the fund,” she added.

The student groups also launched a campaign called Brigada Protesta, a version of the Department of Education’s Brigada Eskwela, to criticize the implementation of the K-12 program.