MANILA, Philippines - In an announcement made on Tuesday, July 11, the University of the Philippines Diliman (UPD) chancellor Michael Tan said that the state university will not collect tuition fee from students for the first semester of academic year 2017 to 2018.
In the university’s official student newspaper Philippine Collegian, Tan explained that there will be no collection of tuition until the government has clarified its subsidy policy.
"There will be no collection of tuition until government is clear about their plan. They are not clear yet as to how much subsidy there will be: partial or complete, and who will be eligible. Until they clarify, we will not collect any amount from students," Tan said.
Meanwhile, UP vice president for public affairs Jose Dalisay Jr. said that the UP administration is still looking for the best way to implement the tuition-free policy, given the resources at their disposal.
Dalisay said students who wish to avail free tuition need to submit proper documentation since the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) guidelines require it so UP can be reimbursed.
“UP thanks the President, Congress, and CHED for seeking to relieve our students and their families of the burden of tuition, but we hope that their support will also extend to miscellaneous fees and other expenses,” Dalisay added.
Last April, CHED and BBM issued a joint memorandum detailing the implementation of tuition-free policy and guidelines in state universities and colleges (SUCs) nationwide.
Prior to Tan’s announcements, students and youth groups camped out in the UP Diliman campus for four days. They also held a protest in front of the Quezon City office of the Commission on Higher Education office to criticize the flaws of the government’s free tuition policy in SUCs.
-- Mini, The Summit Express
In the university’s official student newspaper Philippine Collegian, Tan explained that there will be no collection of tuition until the government has clarified its subsidy policy.
"There will be no collection of tuition until government is clear about their plan. They are not clear yet as to how much subsidy there will be: partial or complete, and who will be eligible. Until they clarify, we will not collect any amount from students," Tan said.
Meanwhile, UP vice president for public affairs Jose Dalisay Jr. said that the UP administration is still looking for the best way to implement the tuition-free policy, given the resources at their disposal.
Dalisay said students who wish to avail free tuition need to submit proper documentation since the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) guidelines require it so UP can be reimbursed.
“UP thanks the President, Congress, and CHED for seeking to relieve our students and their families of the burden of tuition, but we hope that their support will also extend to miscellaneous fees and other expenses,” Dalisay added.
Last April, CHED and BBM issued a joint memorandum detailing the implementation of tuition-free policy and guidelines in state universities and colleges (SUCs) nationwide.
Prior to Tan’s announcements, students and youth groups camped out in the UP Diliman campus for four days. They also held a protest in front of the Quezon City office of the Commission on Higher Education office to criticize the flaws of the government’s free tuition policy in SUCs.
-- Mini, The Summit Express
