Two weeks ago, I was in UP almost every day manning the University Student Council booth at the University Registrar building and distributing party statements to freshmen and their parents in my free time. One thing that I found really apparent was that the overwhelmingly common query among incoming freshmen and their parents was with regards to the socialized tuition scheme of the university. Parents kept asking how they could avail of lower tuition rates, and how they all lamented the exorbitant tuition they have to pay for their children.

Some parents even went on to give unsolicited narrations of their family’s financial struggles, especially in light of the relentless increases in prices of staple and other basic commodities. A housewife from Albay who was accompanying her son, lamented how she was placed in Bracket A in the socialized tuition scheme (the bracket reserved for rich families) and made to pay 1,500 per unit when her husband is only a farmer. One afternoon, former Student Regent Terry Ridon and I went to the parents’ waiting area and spoke in front of the crowd. I didn’t expect the parents’ response to be overwhelming. Parents were talking to us left and right telling us how difficult it has become to send their children to UP. They expressed support for the campaign to junk the policy and they all signed our manifesto.

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Tags: freshmen, tuition increase, University Student Council