Press Release
June 9, 2020

On Tuition Payment Scheme

SENATE President Vicente Sotto III called on the Department of Education (DepEd) to formulate a tuition payment scheme that will help parents whose sources of income were affected when businesses were ordered closed during the more than two months of enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) imposed due to serious contamination threats of the novel coronavirus.

"The DepEd should come out with more flexible payment terms so students can continue to enroll for this school year. Some families have experienced losses because of the lockdown. Private schools should be more accepting of proposed different payment schemes which are more affordable to parents who lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 lockdown," Sotto said.

Sotto said schools should allow the staggered payment of tuition fees under longer terms to give parents more time and opportunity to save money to pay off the cost of sending their children to school.

"Makatutulong ng husto kung pahahabain ng mga paaralan ang panahon ng pagbabayad ng mga school fees upang magkaroon ng mas mahabang panahon ang mga magulang para magawan ng paraan ang kanilang ipambabayad para sa pag-aaral ng kanilang mga anak," Sotto said.

The Department of Labor and Employment has said that millions of workers have been displaced in recent months after business owners were forced to either close shop or reduce their workforce due to the strict quarantine regulations imposed in various provinces and cities in the country. In May, the DOLE estimated that 10 million workers could lose jobs this year due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

Enrolment for basic and secondary education in public schools is now ongoing. The DepEd has announced that the Academic Year 2020-2021 will open on August 24 and close in April 2021. Public and private schools and learning institutes nationwide have been encouraged to use available distance learning, e-learning, and other alternative modes of delivery instead of face-to-face classes so as not to risk the health of students.

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