Students stop studying, because they cannot pay the high fees

Students stop studying, because they cannot pay the high fees

This is said by a survey carried out among the students of this particular university, according to Paúl Plazar, from the Organízate UPS collective.

The students of the Salesian Polytechnic University (UPS), in particular, have been developing a series of actions demanding the reduction of tariffs, which they consider to be very high in the context of the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Paul Plazar, a member of the Organízate UPS collective, questioned the attitude of the authorities of the higher education institution, who have not even deigned to respond to the students’ request, made in previous semesters.

He commented that the authorities have diverted attention from this matter, arguing that the university has a series of difficulties and other evasions. Nor have they received a specific response about a meeting to discuss the students’ requests.

According to Plazar, a survey conducted among students shows that 83% of 967 students, which was the representative sample, have requested financial aid, appealing to the Humanitarian Law, but have not received a response.

97% assure that their economic income has dropped drastically due to the economic and health crisis, which is why the students have requested the recategorization of the quintiles, of the socioeconomic file, which they have not been able to access due to the obstacles that the university has put in place, despite the fact that the regulations state that every student has the right to request recategorization, if the situation warrants.

“Obviously the situation speaks for itself, at the country level and at the level of students, parents, mothers, who have requested this type of support,” Plazar claimed.

The member of the group Organízate UPS warned that, according to the survey, 63.9% of students, of the 967 surveyed, assure that they will not be able to continue studying this semester. But, on a large scale, the number would increase and the situation would be more serious, he reasons.

More than half of students have no longer returned to study, according to this research, because they cannot afford the high costs of tuition.