A Behavioral Science freshman at the University of the Philippines Manila reportedly killed herself Friday morning, allegedly after the school administration forced her to take a leave of absence over unpaid school fees.
The Manila Collegian, on its Facebook page, reported the death of the 16-year-old student, saying “corroborating reports state that financial constraints may have triggered the suicide.”
The student, the daughter of a taxi driver and a housewife, was forced to take a leave of absence on Wednesday, the report said. The Manila Collegian said the student had applied for a student loan but that her application had been denied. “Her parents’ efforts to extend the deadline of payment of her tuition also proved futile,” the Collegian said.
Militant youth group Anakbayan has extended its sympathies to the student’s family and has criticized UP Manila’s policy of forcing students to take a leave of absence if they fail to pay their school fees during registration.
It also criticized the UP system’s Socialized Tuition and Financial Assistance Program. Anakbayan said the student should not have been classified in “Bracket B” since her parents could not afford tuition at that bracket.
“As a result, the student was made to shoulder a burden of P1,000 per unit, or around P16,000 to P20,000 per semester,” the group said.
The group urged its chapters in UP Manila and in other campuses to “take the lead in massive protests until the infamous FLOA (Forced Leave of Absence) and STFAP policies are scrapped, and the tuition is rolled back.”
