Source: Public Relations and Information Department

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Schools' no permit, no exam policy, illegal - solon

06 December 2009 09:27:03 AM
Writer: Jasmin Camero, MRS-PRIB

A lawmaker today urged Congress to pass a bill criminalizing the practice of "no permit, no exam" policy of many educational institutions in the country.

House Bill 6799, authored principally by Rep. Raymond Palatino (Party-list, KABATAAN), imposes a fine of not more than P50,000.00 and suspension and/or cancellation of the permits of the offending schools.

Under the bill, the students with delinquent fees will be allowed to take their examination but shall be subject to the right of the school concerned to withhold the release or issuance of their school clearance prior to their graduation until all prior delinquencies are fully paid.

"Educational institutions have become mostly run as profit-making enterprises with their routine imposition of higher or new school fees, unmindful of the economic situation of the students the schools are supposed to serve," Palatino said.

At present, private education institutions prohibit students who have not partially or fully settled their financial obligations with the school from taking their periodic or final examinations.

"It is the State's obligation to intervene and ensure that our young people’s right to education is not compromised due to financial difficulties," Palatino said.

Palatino said higher education in the country has remained largely inaccessible to poor students due to commercialization.

"This bill seeks to protect deserving students from prematurely halting their studies due to the understandable inability to pay exorbitant school fees on time," Palatino said.