Students of University of the Philippines Cebu College yesterday launched a text protest to oppose the proposed 300 percent increase in the tuition fee of the state-owned university.
This as the UP Board of Regents, the university’s highest decision-making body, is scheduled to meet today to discuss and decide on the proposed increase.
Since few weeks ago, the UP Cebu College - Student Council has been conducting protests to show its opposition to the move.
Today, thousands of students at different UP campuses across the country are expected to join simultaneous protests urging the BOR to scrap the tuition increase proposal.
UP Student Regent Raffy Jones Sanchez and Faculty Regents Roland Simbulan have already assured the students of their stands against the tuition hike during the BOR meeting today.
“While the UP Cebu students may have traveled back to their provinces for the early vacation, they will not be giving the BOR an early respite from pressure politics against the increase in UP tuition,” said UP Cebu Student Council chairperson Karlo Mikhail Mongaya.
Mongaya said that any form of increase in UP tuition is unjustified since this will deprive the majority of the Filipino youth the ability to benefit from UP education, especially in this time of crisis.
“The planned hike clearly shows that the country’s “premier state university” was never exempted from the colonial, commercialized, and repressive system of education of our country.”
“This is a repression of the youth’s right to education. This will only encourage the government to further reduce the budget for UP and shirk on its responsibility to subsidize education.”
Mongaya said that “Iskolars ng bayan” from the other UP units, where classes are still going on, will also be holding demonstrations to coincide with the BOR meeting. - Wenna A. Berondo
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