Public schools expecting more transferees from private schools

Public schools in the country are expecting more student transferees from private schools because of the rising cost of private school education. In Parañaque National High School in Parañaque City, majority of the 200 transfer students were from private schools. School principal Urbano Agustin said a lot of the transfer students from private schools moved to their school because of financial reasons. "Ang kadalasang dahilan talaga ay 'yung mataas na tuition sa private schools," he said. "Kapag hindi na kinakaya ng magulang, nililipat na rito sa public dahil wala namang bayad dito." Agustin said the transfer of private school students to their school has continuously increased since 2009, when private schools started hiking their fees by as much as 10 percent every year. He said the school had to add at least four more sections to accommodate the transfer students. "Parami talaga nang parami 'yung mga lumilipat dito galing sa private [schools], kaya kami naman ay tatanggap lang nang tatanggap hanggang kaya pa namin," he said. Meanwhile, in Commonwealth Elementary School in Quezon City, at least ten of Jenny Rueda's students this year came from private schools. "Lagi namang may mga lumilipat galing private, pero malaki na rin ang tinaas talaga this year," said Rueda, a Grade 5 Filipino teacher. She added that teachers in their school make it a point to reach out to students who transferred from private schools. "Alam naman namin na hindi sila sanay sa public school, syempre naninibago sila," she said. "Kaya kailangan mo silang kausapin, dahil nakikibagay sila sa bagong mga kaklase at bagong eskwelahan, kaya dapat tulungan mo silang mapadali iyon." Parents regret having to transfer children Maralino Gumban, a repatriated overseas Filipino worker from Libya, transferred his son from a private to a public school this year. Gumban, who lost his job due to the political instability in Libya where he was working, said he could no longer afford to pay for his high school son's tuition fee in private school, from which they still owe some miscellaneous fees. He said the local Department of Education (DepEd) division office advised him to enroll his son in Ramon Magsaysay High School in Cubao, Quezon City. Meanwhile, businessman Nelson Alcaraz said it pained him to see his two sons very unenthusiastic about the start of classes this year, as they were transferred from a private school to a public school in Marikina. Alcaraz said he made the decision after his business went bankrupt and the family lost most of their properties. "We were really drained financially, so we decided to move the boys to a public school in the meantime," he said, adding that he could no longer afford the P30,000 tuition fee of his sons' school. He said that his sons acted very mature about the decision, but he knew that they would have wanted to stay in their old school. "Of course I want what's best for them, and we know that the quality of education in public schools [is] not the best, but sometimes you have to make sacrifices," he said. "I just wish I did not have to sacrifice their education." Alcaraz said he is working doubly hard to make sure that his sons can enroll back in private school by next year. "The quality of education in public schools [needs] to improve," he said. "If all parents could afford private schools, I'm sure they will send their children there. Every parent wants the best for their child." - with a report from Bea Cupin/VVP, GMA News