The Kabataan Party today said more college students opted to transfer to state universities and colleges (SUCs) this year due to rising cost of education in private schools.
Records of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) show an exodus of college students enrolled in private schools to SUCs over the last two decades. In 1980, only 10 percent of college students were studying in state schools. By 1994, the number went up to 21 percent and at present already accounts for almost 40 percent of tertiary population.
“But many of these transferees will find themselves dropping out of college,” Kabataan Party President Raymond Palatino said. He warned that this will result in a higher number of college dropouts this coming semester.
“The problem is, there are no more rooms in state schools either,” he added.
“State schools are plagued by similar problems. Not only are they few now and their enrolment quotas limited, they are also haunted by increases in tuition and other fees thus forcing many state scholars to leave.”
Palatino said that access to public higher education institutions, which are the last resort for students who want to obtain a college degree, has become impossible to many college hopefuls.
“While it is true that SUCs offer a tuition lower than private schools,
tuition rate and miscellaneous fees in state schools and universities have seen the biggest increases in recent years, thus making it also inaccessible to ordinary students.”
He said the annual cutbacks in the education budget and the government’s rationalization policy which seeks to reduce the number of state schools led to hike in school fees and subsequent decline in enrollment.
From 271 in 1996, the number of public tertiary institutions went down to only 111 in 2006. CHED figures also show declining enrollment figures in public tertiary since 1997, from a growth rate of 20.75 percent that year to only 0.9 percent by 2002.
Palatino added that SUCs are also forced to accept only a limited number of students due to financial constraints.
This year, only 12,053 applicants qualified in the University of the Philippines College Admission Test (UPCAT). More than 60,000 high school graduates all over the country take the UPCAT every year.
On the other hand, only 8,523 college hopefuls qualified in the Polytechnic University of the Philippines College Entrance Test (PUPCET) out of 80,000 applicants.
But many of these successful examinees did not enroll this school year, Palatino said.
He said the 300 percent tuition hike in UP led to a significant decline in the freshman enrollment in several course offerings. The Office of the Student Regent earlier placed the no-show rate or the number of UPCAT passers who did not enroll at 20 to 40 percent.
Another state school, the Eulogio Amang Rodriguez Institute of Science and Technology (EARIST) in Manila experience a sharp decline in enrollment. Initial enrollment reports show that more than half of the 13,000 strong student population failed to enroll this school year. Only 6,000 enrolled and most of them only made partial payments. The EARIST administration recently increased tuition by almost 600 percent, from 15 pesos per unit to 100 pesos.
The current crisis in tertiary education, Palatino said, should also be blamed on government’s policy of rationalization. The policy allows SUCs to be treated no longer as national agencies performing socially-oriented activities and hence entitled to government subsidy, but as income-earning entities.
“This further translates into incentives for money-making tertiary schools, thereby fully encouraging the commercialization of education.”
“The policy has ensured corporate dominance even in public education,” he said.
sa EARIST dapat patalsikin na yung walnag hiyang presidente si CAILLO. Lalo nya kaming pinahihirapan, caillo dpat syang pagulungin sa hagdanan!!! Help us!!! illegal yung ginawa nilang increase!! walang consultation!!! nabiglka na lang kami!!! HELP US!!!