UP High School faces shutdown

CEBU - The University of the Philippines High School Cebu, the secondary institution that offers democratized access to quality education, is once again facing the threat of being closed.

But UP High School Alumni Association vowed full support to efforts to prevent the plan of the UP administration to eliminate the school that has been part of their growth. The matter was tackled during the recent meeting of the UPHSAA.

University of the Philippines Visayas-Cebu College Associate Dean Primitivo Ereno explained the Dean of UPVCC issued a memorandum mandating the strengthening of the tertiary education and veering away from offering secondary courses.

But he clarified that no official statement or instruction directly mandating the closure of the high school has been issued from the higher office yet.

Ereno told alumni in a meeting that UP High School faces the threat of closure because it is not a mandate of the UP System. UP’s mandate is only for the tertiary education, he added.

Since the implementation of the order from the Department of Education mandating all public schools to provide free tuition to all secondary students, UPHS has not been making any money at all.

Because of this, UPHS has been depending on the budget allotted for the College for its maintenance and other operations. The College feels the high school is a burden to them now that it is pushing for autonomy to become a University.

Presently, UPVCC is only a college of the University of the Philippines Visayas in Iloilo.

Reviewing the requirements to qualify as a university, UPVCC found they must have an existing faculty and programs that would make it a constituent University.

Of the six existing divisions of the College, the Professional Education Division has the highest number of faculty most of whom are in the high school.

One of the problems that arise now, Ereno said is the need for faculty items or items from the Department of Budget and Management where the salary for teachers is charged.

Ereno said the College wants to get these items so they could have enough faculty members who shall be compensated properly.

According to him, the easiest way to prevent the closure of UPHS is to turn it over to Department of Education, which shall take charge of its maintenance and other operating expenses.

However, he said they would also mean that the facilities occupied by the UPHS must also be turned over to DepEd which the College could not allow.

So the option left is to shutdown UPHS and transform it to a laboratory for the College, Ereno said.

The challenge now for the UPHS and its alumni is how to convince the UP administration that the high school has a significant value to the College and the community. — Jessica Ann Pareja/WAB (THE FREEMAN)