BAGUIO CITY – The City Council invited the school administrators of private universities and colleges, learning and training centers in the city to appear during its regular session on Monday, May 4, 2020 to share their insights on proposals requesting the said institutions to either grant tuition fee discounts to their enrolled students or refund the same.
Vice Mayor Faustino A. Olowan said the invitation is part of the consultations being undertaken by the city legislative body to guide the city legislators on what appropriate action to take on the said matter.
He claimed the two resolutions are simply expression of sentiments of the City Council giving the school administrators the final decision on the requests to either grant tuition fee discounts or refund the tuition fees paid by the students in view of the interruption of classes by the implementation of the extended Luzonwide enhanced community quarantine.
One of the pending resolutions acted upon by the City Council is earnestly requesting Baguio-based schools, universities, colleges and training centers to grant tuition fee discounts to all their currently enrolled students affected by the disruption of their classes due to the implementation of the extended Luzonwide enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).
Further, the resolution authored by all members of the City Council requested the Department of Education, Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) to do the acknowledgement of schools under their supervision that will adopt and implement the said endeavor.
The resolution admitted that the imposed ECQ has not only disrupted classes in all levels but also the livelihood and sources of income of parents and guardians who are the ones mostly supporting the studies of their children and wards, thus, significantly affecting their capacity to pay the school fees charged to them.
The other pending resolution is requesting the private universities and colleges in the city to study the possibility of refunding reasonable school fees that were unused by the enrolled students due to the implementation of the Luzonwide ECQ as a form of school assistance to them following the undue disruption of classes.
The resolution authored by all members of the City Council stated that the possibility of refunding the whole or portion of some school fees paid by the students will definitely help the families and stranded students to cope with the situation they are under due to the extended Luzonwide enhanced community quarantine for their food, medicine and allow them to settle their bills among other payables during these trying times.
The resolution stipulates that with the suspension of classes, the students had not been able to physically use school facilities and avail of existing school services which means that they are unable to benefit from their paid school fees such as laboratory fees, library fees and miscellaneous fees.
By Dexter A. See
