MEDIUM RARE

Can a middle-income society like ours afford quality education? True, tuition is free in public schools, colleges and universities, but at the other end of the spectrum, private schools charge fees that to many parents aspiring to give “the best education” for their offspring, a “good school” remains a dream out of their reach. What is a good school? Until someone can give us a reasonably good definition, I’ll just go along with how much they charge in terms of price per unit. An “exclusive” private school can charge as much as ₱5,000 per unit. Do their graduates rank as high as PUP’s in terms of employability? An alumnus ventured this reply: “We’re the ones who employ those guys from PUP. Give us some credit.” Before UP, PUP, and other public schools came under the no-tuition rule not so long ago, matriculation was ridiculously low, from ₱12 to ₱20 per unit. If memory serves, that was the rate in UST — not a public school — in the middle of the last century! Presentday rates at UST are ₱1,800 per unit, just to put things in context. An academician noted that increases in fees per unit, whatever the school, are likely attributed to the salaries paid teachers, instructors, and professors. In other words, inflation! As parents and their children are fully aware, the cost of education does not stop after enrolment. There are books, uniforms, supplies, etc. to be bought, the jeepney or bus fares, the sandwich to be wrapped or the daily allowance for meals, plus pocket money. As the mother of an incoming freshman rued, “Yes, Junior’s tuition is free, but I have to pay for his board and lodging at a dorm, plus his bus fare on weekends when he comes home.” No free lunch. Then there’s Maya, 17, who’s just earned a US$100,000 scholarship from one of five “dream” universities in the States that she applied to. The first to accept her application invited her to tour their campus with a guardian and stay in one of four partner hotels, no commitment. Almost as soon as Maya arrived, she was introduced to the tutor who’d been assigned to her, one on one. Should quality education provide good times? Yes, teacher!