15/04/2026
๐ฆ๐๐๐ฃ ๐ ๐๐ก๐๐๐ก๐๐ข, ๐๐จ๐๐๐ข๐ ๐๐ง๐๐ก๐๐ฆ๐ง๐, ๐๐๐๐จ ๐ฆ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐ข๐ก๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ก๐ฆ๐จ๐๐ง๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐จ๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐จ๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ฅ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฆ๐๐ฆ
| Amid rising tuition, soaring fuel and energy costs, and relentless inflation, student leaders across Mindanao convened through a regional consultation led by Student Council Alliance of the Philippines - Mindanao (SCAP Mindanao), Buklod Atenista, and Samahan ng Mga Mag-Aaral ng Pamantasang Ateneo de Davao (ADDU SAMAHAN) to confront the deepening barriers to education and advance a united campaign against unjust tuition and fee increases.
The consultation forms part of a broader national effort to revise Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Memorandum Order No. 3, s. 2012. As the sole student representative in the Technical Working Group (TWG) for this reform, SCAP reaffirms that tuition policies must not be crafted in isolation from the lived realities of students facing overlapping education, energy, and economic crises.
Across institutions in Mindanao, participants surfaced a shared reality: tuition increases remain opaque, poorly justified, and disconnected from actual improvements in the quality of education. In many cases, students are left with little to no meaningful participation in decisions that directly affect their access to schooling.
As part of the reform process, efforts are being strengthened to ensure that all students are protected from sudden and unjustified increases in tuition and other school fees. It is equally critical that in every stage of fee adjustments, students are given real voice and powerโnot merely informed after decisions are made, but actively involved in shaping policies that directly impact their lives.
The consultation advanced a clear and collective call for full transparency, genuine and binding student participation, and strict accountability in all tuition and fee adjustments. In the midst of a crisis, the burden must not simply be passed on to students. Without clear justification, meaningful consultation, and visible improvements in the quality of education, there is no sufficient basis for increasing tuition.
In a time of overlapping education, energy, and economic crises, unchecked tuition increases will only deepen inequality and push more students out of the system. This growing national campaign aims to ensure that no Filipino student will suffer from predatory, unconsulted, and unreasonable increases that could force them out of education.
This collective effort strengthens a growing national movement to defend accessible education.
Education is a rightโand students are drawing the line.
