MANILA (UCAN): A proposed Philippine law, the No Permit No Exam Prohibition Act, which will allow students to take examinations without paying tuition fees has garnered support from students, while schools oppose it saying it violates academic freedom.
Student groups with backing from youth organisations held two rallies in Manila on August 22, drawing about 321 participants who supported the proposed legislation. The rallies drew support from the left-wing youth political organisation, Kabataan, the League of Filipino Students, and the student leaders of the state-run University of the Philippines.
Once passed in parliament, Senate Bill No. 1359 will ban the policy of disallowing students from sitting for exams with outstanding payments in private schools.
The bill was approved by the Senate in its third reading on August 19. It will require a majority vote in the House of Representatives house to become a law.
Supporters see the bill as a pro-poor measure in a country where one-fifth of the population lives in poverty while private schools continue to increase tuition fees. However the bill has faced strong opposition from private school administrators who labelled it “destructive” to the operations of their schools.
It will cause systemic damage to the private education sector, violate the complementarity of the public and private education sectors, and lead to less accessible quality education in the country,
Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations of the Philippines
The law will be damaging to the “complementarity” of public and private education and an obstacle to quality education in the country, the Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations of the Philippines [COCOPEA] said in a statement, the Daily Inquirer reported on August 19.
“It will cause systemic damage to the private education sector, violate the complementarity of the public and private education sectors, and lead to less accessible quality education in the country,” it stated.
The council asked the lawmakers to reconsider the bill, citing separate statements from its member associations.
In a joint statement on August 22, the National Alliance of Private Schools, Inc. and the Philippine Association of Private Schools, Colleges, and Universities, also criticised the bill.
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“This pending legislation poses a threat to the operations of private educational institutions, especially the small and medium-sized ones,” the statement read.
A student who does not pay his tuition on time is violating the school’s rules and regulations. It is like cheating or any infraction in which case the school has the right not to admit the same for enrollment or not
Net Pinon
“The bill… disrupts fee collection, which jeopardises operational sustainability, timely payment of salaries and wages of school personnel,” the groups stated.
A lawyer said Congress should “carefully” study the bill as they could be infringing on the schools’ academic freedom—a right guaranteed by the constitution.
“A no permit, no exam policy is a right of the school. It is part of managerial discretion beyond the question of any legislation… it is included in the question, who may be admitted to study,” lawyer, Net Pinon, said.
Pinon said that academic freedom, a concept construed in favour of the academic institution, was the basis to claim that those who were not deficient in complying with school regulations such as paying tuition, may only be admitted to study.
“A student who does not pay his tuition on time is violating the school’s rules and regulations. It is like cheating or any infraction in which case the school has the right not to admit the same for enrollment or not,” Pinon continued.
Sad to say, but students have been ‘milking cows’ of some private schools that justified their exorbitant fees because of the high demand of enrollees lining up at their doorsteps
Catherine Diwa
Kabataan executive director, Ronald Pelonia, said the bill has a “sufficient” mechanism to protect academic freedom.
“The parents will execute a promissory note which the school may use against those who will not pay their fees. Also, there is a timetable, that is, one year for every student to pay his tuition. This is clearly a ‘study now, pay later programme’… and there is nothing illegal about it,” Pelonia said.
He cited several government programmes in the past consistent with the “study now, pay later” scheme.
“Everyone supported such a programme before. This is like a loan wherein those who don’t have cash could continue taking their exam rather than postponing or delaying their studies,” he added.
Catherine Diwa, a student from the University of Santo Tomas said the bill can put a stop to private schools continuously raising their tuition and school fees.
“Sad to say, but students have been ‘milking cows’ of some private schools that justified their exorbitant fees because of the high demand of enrollees lining up at their doorsteps,” Diwa explained.
“This puts an end to that because now everything is not just about money but students’ rights,” she added.
Diwa said one year would not “really make a difference” in the operation of private schools since they have been operating on profit.
“They don’t live in hand-to-mouth existence. Their students do. The parents of their students do,” she added.
