Editorial

Raising tuition fees to stay operational

We expect private schools to request for a hike in tuition fees when another school year approaches to defray financial requirements for operation, foremost the salary adjustment for its work force. Some 478 private schools in Region-12 will be increasing their tuition fees by five to 15 percent as reports indicated.

       

As this goes, we see a disparity of wages between private and public schools. By nation-wide comparative, based on reports, private school teachers get a starter pay of P6,000 to P12,000 to their counterparts in the public school of P25,000 to P26,000 a month. This is a wide disparity that there is already an exodus of teachers from private to public schools. Private schools have to compete with their counterparts to maintain their work force, hence, the necessity of raising tuition fees from which 70 percent of the collections go to salaries and wages.

       

Seeking wage hike is seemingly endless due to economic uptrends. When the men in uniform got their promised remuneration hike, public school teachers also demanded the same as they are already so endebted by loans to cope with economic demands.

       

Sociologically though, a change in one necessitates a change in another. And so does salary… a raise in one employment category would create a chain of similar demands in another. Denying an equity  would create a disparity or imbalance in professionalism in the backdrop of wage scale. That is why an equal percentage increase would give solace to a bureaucratic organization. Of course, high profession or specialization should be rightly compensated by attractive salary offer.

       

Qualitatively, high pay would motivate personnel to give their best performance lest they move down the ladder. Private schools then have to compete with their counterparts to maintain and sustain their status, hence, the need to raise fees and charges. A swarm toward public schools because of free education and least cost could not be healthy because it would create congestion in limited facilities.

       

How can this problem be solved? We have to face the fact that tuition fees have to be raised because of financial demands. But the question lies on affordability of families whose income could only be this much. Is government subsidy a formula to solve  this one dilemma in education? We don’t want an exodus of private schools to soak down the drain… they have to survive in the same way other social institutions, including religion, need sound economy.

       

Tuition fees should be reasonable and not exhorbitant… fees that would attract further enrollment and ensure quality of education.

       

If we have now universal health care, this could also apply in education. But the former is already incurring a net loss of billions of pesos. Which way now?