A COALITION of teachers from various Manila schools has slammed the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) and the Department of Education (DepEd) for their “lack of urgency and inadequate response” to the financial struggles of private school employees.
In a statement dated March 7, the Council of Teachers and Staff of Colleges and Universities in the Philippines (CoTeSCUP) accused schools of financially exploiting employees, an issue it said persists due to weak government oversight.
“Despite awareness of these long-standing issues, CHEd and DepEd have shown a lack of urgency and an inadequate response to the economic hardships of private school workers,” the council wrote.
“Their failure to implement policy reforms, introduce necessary regulations, and enforce accountability measures has allowed the continued exploitation of private school educators and staff,” it continued.
The council, led by Asst. Prof. Rene Tadle of the UST Department of Philosophy, said the government’s education bodies have failed to properly implement Republic Act 6728, which was meant to provide financial aid to students and teachers in private education.
Programs under this law, such as the Education Service Contracting program, have largely benefited private schools rather than improving the wages and working conditions of teachers, CoTeSCUP said.
“Unlike their public-school counterparts, private school workers continue to face low wages, job insecurity, lack of tenure, and limited access to government-mandated benefits,” it said.
Tuition hike shares
CoTeSCUP also pointed to the delayed distribution and opaque computation of teachers’ legally mandated share in tuition increases. By law, 70% of tuition increases must go to the salaries of faculty and staff.
However, the council noted that while schools justify tuition hikes as a means to raise teachers’ salaries, they often implement these hikes through miscellaneous and other fees, which are excluded from the faculty’s regulated share.
Tuition increases for freshmen are also not factored into the computation, and schools often delay the distribution of these “rightful allocations” because of prolonged negotiations for a collective bargaining agreement (CBA).
“Faculty, non-teaching/support staff fight for their rightful share while students bear the burden of rising costs with little oversight. Without stricter regulation and enforcement, these problems will only worsen,” it said.
“Rather than treating this as a labor and education crisis, both agencies (CHEd, DepEd) have repeatedly deferred substantive reforms, leaving private school workers trapped in a cycle of economic insecurity,” it added.
In October, UST Rector Fr. Richard Ang, O.P. rejected the UST Faculty Union’s (USTFU) request for the immediate release of a portion of teachers’ tuition increase share, insisting this must be negotiated under a CBA.
READ: No collective bargaining deal, no salary hikes, UST tells faculty union
The USTFU sought legal opinion from CHEd in December on the matter.
On Feb. 17, CoTeSCUP requested an immediate dialogue with unions and faculty associations from private educational institutions to address their concerns over tuition hike allocations.
Apart from UST, other schools such as Ateneo de Manila University, Lyceum University of the Philippines, University of San Carlos, Centro Escolar University, and San Beda University have raised similar concerns.
CoTeSCUP has also brought the issue to Sen. Risa Hontiveros, pushing for the Transparency and Fair Allocation of Tuition Fee Increases Act that seeks to ensure equitable and transparent distribution of tuition hike funds.
Hontiveros has since forwarded the concerns to Senators Sherwin Gatchalian and Alan Peter Cayetano, co-chairpersons of the Second Congressional Commission on Education.
