The city council has requested higher education institutions (HEIs) to grant a full or partial discount on student’s miscellaneous fees.
In a resolution authored by Sangguniang Kabataan Chair Levy Lloyd Orcales, the council said the collection of miscellaneous fees is “unfounded” under full online classes.
The council urged HEIs to study the possibility of granting full or partial discounts to miscellaneous fees since these may not serve their intended purpose.
Miscellaneous include athletics fee, audio-visual fee, cultural fee, dental fee, medical fee, library fee, laboratory fee, and Internet fee for online learning, among other things.
“That is why we filed a resolution again. This is the second time that we (city council) to talk about it and (make the) request to HEIs,” Orcales said.
Orcales added students and parents have been asking for a discount on tuition amid the disruption of classes due to the pandemic.
“But I’m positive that (the Commission on Higher Education) CHED will do something about it,” he added.
CHED had earlier announced that it would gear towards flexible learning arrangements for the next school year which begins in August.
CHED-Cordillera representative Jimmy Catenas said in a recent city council session that universities and colleges should look into the quality of their technology and the digital capacity of students to determine the best mode of learning.
Catenas said students and institutions with high-level technology, adequate devices to use, stable Internet connectivity, and digital proficiency may opt for the online learning mode.
Those with medium-level technology and slow Internet connectivity may employ the micro-macro learning mode – a combination of the online and offline learning approaches.
Those with little to no technology and poor to no Internet connectivity may adopt the offline learning approach, Catenas added.
Some institutions have conducted a survey to determine the factors that dictate which approach would be used to facilitate learning under the new normal, he said.
CHED, however, has no existing guidelines yet on the grant of discounts on school fees, Catenas added.
“That is the prerogative of the institution, but I think it is possible,” Catenas said. – PNA release
