By Ben Rosario A senior administration congressman had asked the House of Representatives to ask private schools in the country to reduce tuition fees and forego all miscellaneous and other school charges for the coming school year. Deputy Speaker and Ilocos Sur Rep. Deogracias Victor Savellano
(Facebook / MANILA BULLETIN) Deputy Speaker and Ilocos Sur Rep. Deogracias Victor Savellano made the proposal through House Resolution No. 930 that was referred to the House Committee on Higher Education. A few days after Savellano filed the resolution, the Alliance of ConcernedTeachers, represented in the Lower House by Rep. France Castro, aired fears that the low enrolment rate in private schools will likely result in closure of several educational institutions and leave hundreds of teachers and school workers jobless. A number of Catholic schools have decided to slash school fees as they prepared students for online education. In Quezon City, Stella Maris College, one of the oldest educational institutions in the city, cut tuition fees by an average of P3,000 for the 2020-2021 school year. It is one of the Catholic schools that reportedly heeded the appeal of parents for reduced school fees. Savellano said his appeal for lower tuition fee is borne out of the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected family income with parents either losing their jobs, in many instances. “Given this depressing economic situation, our people will have difficulty sending their children back to school on account of their monetary losses,” the House official said. He added: “During this time of pandemic crisis, we all need to band and sacrifice together, to give up something at least temporarily, so that the youth’s education will continue ensuring the survival of the next generation.” ACT disclosed that data released by the Department of Education two weeks ago showed that only 318,930 students have enrolled in private schools, representing a measly 7.6 percent of the 4.2 million private school students last year.