Majority of higher education institutions (HEIs) in the country did not increase tuition amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) said on Saturday.
“Pagpasok [ng Covid-19], majority of our HEIs have not increased their [tuition],” CHEd Executive Director Cinderella Filipina Benitez-Jaro said in the “Laging Handa” daily government briefing.
Jaro said some HEIs applied for tuition hikes in March, but did not implement the increase as the Covid-19 pandemic continued to rage.
“May mga iba … na nagre-request pa rin na makapag-increase, pero pinag-aaralan pa namin sa [CHEd]. Dahil ang ginawa namin ay sinigurado namin na ang ating mga estudyante ay na-inform ng ating mga HEIs ng kung anuman ang dapat nilang i-increase sa tuition fee at bakit, sa kabila ng pandemyang ito,” she explained.
Earlier, CHEd instructed colleges and universities to reschedule internships and laboratory courses to the second semester of Academic Year 2020-2021.
Jaro said such courses could be “impossible” to teach online.
“Alam po namin na hindi talaga o mahirap na malipat ito sa full online o kaya naman sa tinatawag nating offline,” she said.
“We recommend na iyong magku-conduct ng kanilang laboratory o na magku-conduct ng kanilang limited face-to-face classes ay gawin nila nang siguro dulo ng semester na mas handa na tayo o kaya naman mas preparado na ang ating mga HEIs, o next sem[ester],” she added. John Ezekiel J. Hirro