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Dy, Danielle Marie C. Palmera, Erica Jean PolSci 11 Term Paper I. Introduction As a high school senior, students often ponder on which college to apply to after graduation. A lot of factors are being considered like: availability of their preferred course, proximity to where you live, quality education and even personal concerns with friends and family. Unfortunately, for someone living in a third world country, the main factor they have to consider is the tuition fee of the school.
A fourth year high school student had heard that the University of the Philippines gives quality education and is cheap for is it a government-subsidized university. His family, a farmer, and his mother, a housewife, decided not to send him to college but when he presented to them about UP, they considered it. Upon enrollment, they found out the tuition was more than they could afford because they have to pay the basic tuition fee while waiting for the approval of STFAP to Bracket E2. When the bracket assignment came, he discovered that he was assigned to Bracket D.
Because of this conflict, his siblings sacrificed not studying so that he can proceed to college. He felt guilty about this situation. His guilt resulted to anger towards his school, UP Cebu. He does not know that a lot of students are in the same situation as well. Could the poverty issue be the reason why some UP Cebu students complain about the tuition? Based on observation, some Filipinos do not fight for their rights because they are not fully aware of their own. This paper aims to make students aware of their right to education and expression and to inform other people who may be interested to know about the topic.
As UP students, it is good to know the different issues that are happening not only because it involves our own community but also because it ill affect the future generations. Before moving on, let the researchers define the STFAP principle of the University of the Philippines. The STFAP or the Socialized Tuition and Financial Assistance Program is an Alphabetic Bracketing Scheme (ABC) used to determine the tuition rate and/or benefits that each student must pay and/or receive.
It operates in such a way that a student must prove his/her incapacity to pay the full cost of UP education to be able to receive tuition discounts and/or stipends and other benefits. And defining a third world country, this refers to the developing countries. According to Heywood (2007), these were the countries that were economically dependent and suffered severe poverty. These were also the countries that produced 18 percent of the world’s GDP with 52 percent of the world’s population.
This term paper is focused on the perspectives of a sample of UP Cebu students regarding the tuition fee that UP gives. Due to time constraints of approximately eighteen days and the budget the researchers have, our data is only limited to print sources available at the UP Cebu library, interviews from a sample of UP Cebu students, and available related resources on the Internet. According to Heywood (2007), a constitution is a set of rules that seek to establish the duties, powers and functions of the various institutions of the government.
He even added that constitutions are rules that govern the government itself. This paper uses constitutionalism as an approach. Through the theory of constitutionalism, which means a set of political values and aspirations that reflect the desire to protect liberty through the establishment of internet and external checks on government power (Heywood, 2007), it proves that the UP Cebu students have the right to complain, and most especially the right to accessible quality education.
To achieve the main goal of knowing why some UP Cebu students complain about the tuition fee, it is best to get first-hand information. On-the-spot interviews were conducted from a sample of students per course. The first question that was asked was “Do you complain about the UP Cebu tuition? ” This the led to the next question of “Why or why not? ” The sample of students responded accordingly. By this process of getting the information, the researchers we able to gather and assess the interviewee’s perspectives.
The researchers also made use of print and Internet sources as basis for further information. Review of Related Literature Education, as defined by Hector de Leon, refers to the process of training the physical, mental and/or moral faculties of an individual. He added that education is very important as it develops a person’s own convictions therefore not making him/her a prey to the manipulation of corrupt politicians, sweet-talking demagogues and dubious leaders and to the blandishments of alien ideologies.
Truly, education is very significant in the society that Article II, Section 17 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution mandates the State to “give priority to education, science and technology, arts, culture and sports… “. However, as stated in a report of the National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP), the Aquino administration had cut the subsidies of 51 state universities and colleges (SUCs) to as much as Php573. 96 million for the year 2012. Among all the universities that experienced this budget cut, University of the Philippines has the highest decrease amounting to Php208,228,000.
The administration, added Professor Roland Simbulan, had put more budget emphasis on paying foreign debts and revolutionizing the military and police facilities and equipments. In order to justify this decrease of budget for education, which leads to increase in tuition and other fees, the STFAP was restructured. STFAP maliciously led the students to believe that “those who can pay should pay more, those who can not shall be subsidized. ” It just means that the rich doesn’t have the right to free education while the poor must be subsidized by the rich.
Where now is the role of the government to “protect and promote the right of all citizens to quality education” and “to make such education accessible to all” as mandated by the Philippine Constitution? (KASAMA SA UP,2011) With all these issues that the University of the Philippines is currently facing, Professor Simbulan dismally commented that the new generations of UP are slowly becoming apathetic towards social concerns. He added that while there are still some who fight for their rights, the number of students who prefer to be passive about the issue is gradually increasing.
By that idea, the researchers had formed this paper; in order to know how many of the population knows and how many doesn’t and to know what could be done and what can help us in doing it. “We cannot be globally competitive unless we upgrade our educational institutions and facilities” (de Leon, 2002). Structure of the Paper As a government-subsidized university, the University of the Philippines is one of the first choices underprivileged but deserving and determined students.
However, because of the tuition increase, it is difficult for their students to maintain their studies, therefore, resulting to the complaints. Although there may be several reasons why they may be complaining, the researchers hypothesize that this financial conflict is the main concern, especially being in a third world country. II. Data A. Table 1: Results to the question, “Do you complain about the tuition? ” [pic] B. Table 2: Results of the question, ” Why or why not? ” from the first question. Reasons for “Yes” |Reasons for “No” | |Personal family issues |Still cheaper than other schools | |Big difference from past tuition |”Part of the cycle” | |Should have better facilities |”I don’t feel it” | |TOO EXPENSIVE (Bracket D) |Affordable (Bracket A) |
C. Table 3: Bracket Division from the sample of students III. Analysis A current issue that is known in the University of the Philippines is the issue of the tuition fee. As states in the introduction, the main goal of this paper is to know about the current issues in the community, particularly on the tuition and other fees increase. Based on our gathered data, 60 percent of the sample of students replied, “No, we are not complaining. ” Most of the reasons they explained were due to the comparison of fees between other schools, that it was still cheaper, or that they “don’t feel the issue”, as one student stated.
We can say that this boils down to apathy towards some issues nowadays. While some are apathetic, others do not really know about the issue. Making these people more aware about the issues, which is our main goal, it may solve the apathy in these students. The other 40 percent of the sample students replied, “Yes, we are complaining. ” Their reasons focused more on personal family issues, the price becoming too expensive, and the quality of the facilities. For a university that is subsidized by the government, the issue is worth complaining about. Supporting his stand is constitutionalism.
With constitutionalism, there is a constitution. According to the 1987 Philippine Constitution, which is what the Philippines currently observes, Article XIV Section I states that the state shall protect, and promote the right of all citiens quality eduction at all levels and shall take appropriate steps to make such education accessible to all. This law gives the people complaining the right to complain because it is within the Philippine constitutions. Nowadays, the phrase “to make such education accessible to all” in the article is being violated.
This is evident in the current situation wherein there are still some underprivileged students who still have to prove their poorness in order to enjoy education that is within their financial means. In other cases, if not financial, they have the right of freedom of expression. Article III Section IV states that “No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, of expression, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances. ” By complaining, a form of expression, they have this right.
Over all, the researchers’ hypothesis of a ghigh count of students complaining did not go as planned. There are still those who do not know about the issue, those who know and fight for their right to accessible education, and those who do not care. IV. Conclusion and Recommendation Why do some UP Cebu students complain about the tuition fee? This is the question that the researchers had started with. The researchers hypothesized that it because of the increase of tuition and the current economic status of the Philippines. The paper was made to inform and make this issue known to the people.
After conducting interviews and research, it was found that 60 percent actually were not complaining due to ignorance and comparison of fees between the other schools. For the 40 percent, they focused more on the bad quality of the facilities and how expensive the tuition has come to be (since 2006). Being in a third world country has been difficult in terms of education. This is the reason why they complained. Through constitutionalism, the researchers have found out that the students actually have the right to accessible education and the right to complain if it is not attained.
After gathering information about this issue, the researchers recommend a proper dissemination of information. Majority do not really know about the current issue or at least, do not care about it. To achieve a goal of accessible education, it is imperative that everyone must work for it; not just the students but also the administration and the government. After all, knowing and being conscious of issues like these can affect not only our personal welfare but also the welfare of the country and the future generations. Works Cited De Leon, Hector S. 2002) Textbook on the Philippine Constitution, Rex Printing Company Heywood, Andrew (2007) Politics, 2nd ed, Palgrave Foundations Interviews: Anonymous interviewees, September 30, 2011 and October 3, 2011. http://upissues. wordpress. com/2011/06/02/stfap-tuition-hike/ Date Accessed: October 5, 2011 http://www. yonip. com/main/articles/fee_increases. html Date Accessed: October 5, 2011 http://nusp. org/nusp-to-sen-drilon-face-the-reality-and-stop-creating-spins-to-cover-up-the-government%E2%80%99s-inability-to-prioritize-education/ Date Accessed: October 5, 2011 ———————– [pic]