Out-Of-School, Out-Of-Clothes Youth

The naked truth – 88 private colleges and universities and 91 primary and secondary schools increased their tuition for the coming school year 2007 – 2008.

This is primarily the reason why some 35 nude out-of-school youth took to the streets. They were with the militant youth organization Alyansa ng Nagkakaisang Lakas ng Kabataan, which claims an estimated 14.6 million youth were not able to enroll last year because of the prohibitive costs of education these days.

Jehhan Silva, the spokesperson for the group says, “lahat na ng protesta gagawin namin para mapansin lang ang mga kabataan ng gobyerno at iba pang mga institusyon.” She also says most schools did not even consult their students before implementing tuition hikes which ranged from 5 to 8 percent.

“Show proof,” Commission on Higher Education Chairman Dr. Carlito Puno tells the protesters. He even adds “ang mahirap sa mga estudyante may mga alegasyon pero hindi naman nila mapatunayan.”

The CHED and the Department of Education both say the tuition hikes in primary, secondary and tertiary schools they approved were all justified. Puno adds some schools did not have a choice but raise their matriculation fees than be forced to close their businesses. Makes sense for students who have enough money to spare. But what about those who have started their education in private schools but have become a little hard on cash?