Panukalang pagbasura sa ‘no permit, no exam policy’, aprub sa Kamara

ni Lolet Abania | September 19, 2022

Inaprubahan na ng House Committee on Higher and Technical Education ngayong Lunes ang isang panukala na layong payagan ang mga estudyante na kumuha ng exams sa kabila ng kanilang mga unpaid school fees.

Ang House Bill 1160, pagbasura o scrapping ng no permit, no exam policy sa mga paaralan, ay aprub na ng mga mambabatas. Anila, dapat na payagan ng mga eskuwelahan ang mga estudyante na mag-take ng exams kahit na mayroon pa ang mga ito na hindi pa nabayarang dues sa paaralan, sa kondisyon na ang mga eskuwelahan ay maaaring mag-impose ng iba pang patakaran gaya ng pag-withhold ng mga clearances o credentials habang hinihintay na ma-settle ang mga school fees.

“We should remove this kind of burden [of no permit, no exam] to our students lalo na kapag papalapit na ang exam period... kesa makapag-focus paano makakapaghanda [sa exam] at pag-aaral, puwede pa sila maapektuhan mentally and economically sa paghahabol makabayad ng school fees,” pahayag ni Kabataan party-list Representative Raoul Manuel, ang principal author ng naturang bill, sa ginanap na committee deliberations.

“We believe that the policy of no permit, no exam can bar students who have unpaid dues from obtaining their marks regardless of how hard they work for their grades,” dagdag ni Manuel.

Sinang-ayunan din ito ni House higher and technical education panel chairman Mark Go, aniya, ang pagse-settle ng mga school fees ay posibleng maging pasanin para sa mga estudyante mayroon o wala mang COVID-19 pandemic dahil may pagkakataon ng hindi inaasahang family emergencies na maaaring mangyari.

“Removing the no permit, no exam policy is also advantageous for the schools so students can take exam on the same day, hindi iyong du’n lang sila mag-e-exam once they already paid their tuition,” sabi ni Go.

“Let them take the exam. The school can [instead] hold their credentials until they pay the amount [due], or they won’t be allowed to enroll the following semester or year.

Kawawa naman ang magaling ang bata, na ready to take the exam,” saad pa ni Go.

Subalit para kina Association of Local Colleges and Universities (ALCU) executive director at Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Muntinlupa chief operating officer at president na si Dr. Raymundo Arcega at Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations (COCOPEA) managing director na si Joseph Estrada, ang no permit, no exam policy ay isang resonableng regulatory policy at sinisiguro nitong may pananagutan ang estudyante.

“This [no permit, no exam] is based on justified and acceptable reasons and also about exacting accountability on the student. Those who could not pay would no longer pay on time in the absence of moral compulsion,” wika ni Estrada.

“Tuition is the lifeblood of the private HEIs (higher educational institutions) and if they are not allowed to implement reasonable collection of tuition, private HEIS will crumble, and higher education too, considering the private HEI’s participation in higher education,” paliwanag ni Estrada.

Binanggit naman ni Manuel ang Section 5 ng kanyang bill kung saan nakasaad, “school authorities shall have the right to refuse issuance of school clearance to students with financial obligations to the school until all previous delinquencies are fully paid.”

Habang sinuportahan ng mga mambabatas si Manuel sa pag-scrap ng no permit, no exam policy.

“We should allow students to take the exams pending payment of tuition, provided that there are other means [to collect] dues and that they will not take it for granted,” pahayag ni Go.

“We will incorporate this in the final version of the bill,” sabi pa ni Go.