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| 160,000 KIDS FORCED TO LEAVE PRIVATE SCHOOLS YEARLY By Rep. Eduardo R. Gullas (1st District, Cebu) February 12, 2006 The heavy migration of students from private to public schools, if not contained, could lead to a deeper crisis in basic education, an educator-turned-lawmaker has warned. Citing a study by the Department of Education, Cebu Rep. Eduardo Gullas said that with tuition increasing at 15 percent annually, or doubling every five years, an estimated 160,000 students are being driven out of private elementary and high schools each year. Gullas said some of the students drop out altogether because of the pressure to survive and help earn a living for their families. The overwhelming majority, however, turn to public schools to continue their education. "There is so-called demand destruction for private schools. They have been losing teachers who prefer to work abroad or in local call centers. So they have been raising tuition, mainly to make their faculty pay more attractive. Ironically, the tuition increases have driven more students out of private schools," Gullas said. "As a result, our public primary and secondary schools are about to explode because of over-capacity, while private schools are about to collapse because of declining enrolment. The net result of both trends is that the quality of our basic education will eventually suffer," Gullas warned. "This is why it is absolutely imperative that we pass this year?s budget. There are items in the budget meant, on one hand, to build up the capacity of public schools to take in more students, and on the other hand, to fortify the financial viability of private schools," Gullas said. He said the proposed budget includes "crucially important" new spending for basic education, such as P2.9 billion for the construction of 4,578 new classrooms, P2.7 billion for the hiring of 9,200 new teachers and P1.8 billion for the purchase of 18.1 million English paired textbooks. "More important, there is P2 billion in the budget meant as tuition subsidy for 475,000 students forced to enroll in private high schools due to the lack of public schools," Gullas pointed out. He was referring to the P2-billion allotment for the Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (GASTPE) program, which aids underprivileged students who have to enroll in private high schools because they could no longer be accommodated by the limited facilities of public schools. Under GASTPE, 475,000 students in private high schools would each get a P4,000-voucher, which they can then use to partly pay for tuition. The program does not have any requirement, other than the willingness of parents to cover the rest of the student?s tuition. "Actually, GASTPE helps not only needy students complete their high school education, but also aids private high schools in the process. By subsidizing the tuition of 475,000 students, we will, in effect, be helping private high schools keep more students," Gullas said. |