The Department of Education has approved the application of 654 private elementary and secondary schools nationwide for an increase in tuition and other fees this coming school year.
DepEd data as of May 14 showed that a “total of 901 private schools applied for increase in tuition and other fees but only 654 or 73 percent of which has been approved.” The data presented by DepEd is only based on the submission of 13 out of the seventeen 17 regions.
Five-hundred fifty-six private schools applied before the community quarantine while 345 private schools applied during the community quarantine. “Based on the submission of 13 regions, the average tuition increase applied by the schools is 13 percent,” DepEd said.
DepEd data also showed that out of the total 11,021 private schools offering elementary education, only “418 have applications for tuition and or other fee increase representing only 3.79 percent.” The highest number of applications was from Regions 3 (79), 4-A (56), and Region 5 (55).
DepEd data also showed that “only 236 out of the total 5,472 secondary private school institutions have applied for tuition and or other fee increase for school year 2020-2021 which status is either already approved or still pending for approval.” DepEd noted that Region 3 still had the “highest number of applications received” at 69 and 49 applications for Region 11.
DepEd had earlier appealed to private schools in basic education nationwide to “defer increases” in tuition and other miscellaneous fees or charges for the upcoming school year amid the COVID-19 situation in the country.
DepEd said that private schools should reconsider implementing tuition hike this SY 2020-2021 in “view of the financial constraints that parents and learners are expected to face due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation.”
DepEd said it is “practicable” for private schools to defer increases on tuition and other school fees when they start classes this coming school year. DepEd added that it shall “endeavor to make any application of private schools of tuition increases transparent and reasonable, in accordance with the applicable laws and rules and regulations.”
While DepEd recognizes the need to ensure the sustainability of private educational institutions so that they may continue to be viable partners in the delivery of quality basic education services in the country, the agency stressed this “objective must be balanced with the accessibility of these services to learners, particularly those whose families are experiencing financial difficulties brought by the imposition of necessary COVID-19 management measures.” (Ina Hernando Malipot)