Despite the Student Government’s (SG) firm opposition to the proposed tuition fee increase for the next school year, De La Salle Lipa (DLSL) will be pushing through with a 5% hike, citing the need to maintain the institution’s financial stability, Feb. 19.
According to Karl Tolentino, SG vice president, the Financial Resource Department (FRD) already has submitted their tuition fee increase application to the Commision on Higher Education (CHED) for their approval, saying that SG’s disagreement would not be a factor in preventing an increase.
“It is part of the process na lang na magconsult sila sa amin pero ganon pa rin. So kung i-approve daw po sila [ng CHED], even if the student body disagrees, magkakaroon pa rin ng increase,” Tolentino said.
The SG vice president also added that in their meetings with the administration, the reason for the proposed increase was attributed to the ‘depletion of Lasallian Partners’ salaries’ as explained by the admin.
Tolentino also said that the FRD pointed out the provisions in Republic Act No. 6728 stating that 70% of the tuition fee should be apportioned to the teaching personnel’s salaries.
Meanwhile, in a survey conducted by the SG, 1,819 respondents out of 3,099 college students disagreed with the planned increase in tuition fee.
Tolentino said that the majority of the responses they have gathered questioned why the school must increase its tuition fee as students themselves feel that they will not fully benefit from it.
Tolentino also mentioned that there are other fees to be added to certain programs for the upcoming freshmen students, but the admin dismissed their request for more details on the matter.
“According sa kanila [FRD] it is out of our control na. Bakit kailangan pa raw namin pakialaman ang incoming first year student, as they are not part of student body yet,” Tolentino said.
The proposed increase will be the third time the school will impose a hike for the same reasons since 2017.
As of press time, there is yet to be a confirmation of the date for the results of the application forwarded to CHED.
In my opinion, the administration is not investing the school’s financial resources in the right area. For instance, the newly installed turnstiles. Their reason for the excessive amount of turnstiles is the security of the students whenever there are events inside the campus that will be attended by students from other schools. So what about pag walang events? Pedeng hindi na gamitin? Also, sa CBEAM building. Nag lagay sila ng turnstile dun sa entrance sa ground floor pero wala sa second floor kase di ba may CB 2nd floor pa na open tas may glass doors na daretso sa 2nd floor. So nasan yung security dun? Financial Stability? Pero ang binili ay malalaking TV na nilalagay sa mga lugar na dinadaanan lng ng students. Para saan yung TV na yun? For example, yung nasa may sentrum. May tumitigil ba talaga para manood dun? Bale wala ang freedom of speech ng students kung di din naman papakinggan. Mag iincrease ng tuition fee? Sari saring fees na nga yung binabayaran na hindi nmn maintindihan kung ano yung fees na yun. Tapos hindi kayo magdidisclose ng information? Ano kaya yun, hindi ba dapat alam ng students and parents specially kung ano yung binabayaran sa school kase hindi nmn maliit na halaga lng ang ibinabayad.