Arao, D. A. (2007, April 18-24). Ang problema sa UP ngayon. Pinoy Weekly, 6 (14), p. 5. This may be retrieved from http://www.pinoyweekly.org/pw6-14/op_ed/ed-6_14_3.htm.

A few hours after posting the full text of this article today to various e-groups, a friend of mine who is an Engineering graduate of the University of the Philippines (UP) sent this reply:

Salamat, Danny, sa kopya ko. Maganda ito dahil di pa rin tapos ang debate ko sa mga frat brods na may-kaya tungkol sa tuition fee hike diyan. Bilib na bilib sila kay UP prexy na ok lang daw ang may increase.

I agree that the debate is not yet over. Just because the UP Board of Regents approved the tuition hike does not mean that concerned groups and individuals will now treat the tuition increase as a fait accompli.

An Olongapo-based journalist (and, as you’ll find out, also a concerned father) also sent me this reaction via email:

Tama ka sa article mo kasi iyon din ang tanong ko.  Remember my kid who wants to study in U.P.?  Well, pasok siya sa UPLB kaya lang ang susunod na problema ngayon ay ang tuition niya.  Kung PhP 6,000 lang tulad ng sa ate niya diyan sa Diliman, kaya pa.  Pero kung PhP 18,000 na, teka muna dahil ang hirap ng ipunin ng ganoong kalaking halaga.  Iyon pala ang isyung ikinagagalit ng anak ko noon dahil tinaktikahan daw sila kaya na-braso ng Admin ang pagpasa sa bagong tuition rate.

Nagtataka ako kasi pinakuha ko rin ng test ang anak ko sa PUP and he got a score of 138 out of 152 items.  In other words, 1st priority siya sa enrollment.  And you know how much is their tution?  Yung 18 units mga 800 lang ang babayaran ko.  But of course, the name U.P. has much goodwill.  PUP has also a high quality standard pero sabi nga eh pag U.P. ka, wala ng tanungan sa credentials kasi for sure mataas ang IQ mo (EQ and SQ are entirely different matters).  That is also the reason why I as a parent would like my children to have a U.P. education. But as it is now…. 

Ano pa ang saysay ng pag-aaral mabuti sa high school at pagpasa sa UPCAT kung hindi rin lang magkakaroon ng chance na diyan ma-enroll dahil sa taas ng tuition?  Lalabas niyan ang PUP na ang hahawak ng titulong tunay na “Iskolar ng Bayan!” Hindi ba’t tama lang na yung upper 10% (cream of the crop) ng mga graduating high school students ay bigyan ng reward o motivation to excell by becoming a national scholar?

I have until the end of May to produce the tuition, else sa PUP na talaga mag-aaral ang anak ko. Kayo sir, kumayod na kayong mabuti dahil baka pag-college ng magiging anak ninyo, PhP 10,000 per unit na ang U.P., hehehe.

Frankly, I don’t think I’ll be able to send my future children to UP at the rate things are going.

What prompted me to write about this topic was an incident during the summer registration last week. A student asked me for a personal loan since he did not have enough money to pay for his tuition. Even at the risk of self-deprecation, you should know that I have a reputation in our College (or perhaps in the entire campus!) for being strict, unapproachable and unsmiling. Honestly, I’m the epitome of a teacher who is not student-friendly. Some former students didn’t mince words about my unsmiling demeanor. In fact, one of them even wrote about that as an introduction to a Valentine’s Day love story of Joy and I.

I think that this particular student’s desperation to approach an unsmiling professor like me is a sign that there is something wrong about increasing tuition in a state university like UP. I know that in other state universities and colleges (SUC) that charge relatively low tuition, students still find it hard to pay the required fees, much less sustain their everyday expenses. What makes UP students so different?

Some friends say that this is an issue that’s exclusive to students and that professors like me are better off not saying our piece. But what happens when students fail to enroll during the registration period and attend classes because of financial constraints? A teacher who is serious about his or her work should be concerned about the reasons behind a student’s poor academic performance. In my 14 years of teaching (the last six of them as a regular faculty member), I’ve met a lot of students who didn’t fare well academically just because of financial problems.

I don’t take consolation from the possibility that this is a problem that’s true only for a minority of students. Even if there comes a time when the “haves” outnumber the “have-nots” in UP, it still doesn’t change the fact that it is a state university that should not be preoccupied with generating revenues through commercialization.

Why can’t the administration see the logic in the argument that we should consistently fight for greater state subsidy instead of looking for ways to lessen, if not eradicate, dependence on government funding? There is absolutely nothing wrong with fund-raising efforts to augment meager state subsidy, but this should not be done at the expense of students through increases in tuition and other fees.

In any case, I hope you’ll find time to read this article whose topic is a bit closer to home, figuratively and literally.